


This Nerd's Got Bite

by fangirlregretsnothing



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Eventual Smut, Explicit Language, F/F, F/M, Fluff, Humor, M/M, also sorta Jock!Jean, and I do mean a LOT of teasing, but first there's a lot of teasing, lots of teasing, pastel!marco, punk!jean
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-22
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-02-09 22:02:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,059
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1999542
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fangirlregretsnothing/pseuds/fangirlregretsnothing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jean Kirschtein is a popular, athletic, and openly bi-sexual highschool punk who's used to getting what he wants with little to no effort. </p><p>Marco Bodt is a generally soft-spoken teen whose pastel style tends to paint him as an image of innocence.  </p><p>So when a friend bets Jean that he couldn't get a boyfriend and KEEP that boyfriend till the end of the semester, Jean is confident that he can have Marco wrapped around his finger in no time at all. What he didn't expect, however, was to find out that Pretty in Pastel Marco isn't nearly as innocent, nor as ignorant, as Jean had assumed. Marco's got a plan of his own, and if Jean wants to keep him, Jean's going to have to work for it (and suffer hundreds of cold showers in the meantime). Damn that sweet freckled tease!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bet

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, so I'm super excited about this story, mainly because I dearly love pastel!marco and I wanted write a story where Marco could prove that wearing pastels and cute hair clips doesn't mean that he's anywhere near innocent. A lesson that Jean is about to learn the hard way (or as I affectionately call it, "The Blue Balls Way"). 
> 
> Also this is my first time writing and posted fanfiction, so any helpful critique is much appreciated. I don't currently have a Beta for this fic, so I apologize for any errors that I failed to catch as well. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy and feel free to come find me on tumblr! (https://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com)

“What the hell, Sasha! Get your greedy little fingers off my muffin!”

 

“But I already ate mine, and you've barely even touched yours, Con! Just gimme one little piece!”

 

“No!”

 

“Why not!?”

 

“Because your idea of 'a little piece' is the entire muffin!”

 

Marco sighed as he finished getting his books from his locker, listening to his friends squabbling behind him over breakfast food. He knew that he should probably step in before their spat got too out of hand, but at the same time, he found himself holding on to the dim hope that maybe a teacher would walk by and stop their fight for him. After all, it was too early in the morning to be dealing with Sasha and Connie's somewhat incestuous pseudo-sibling relationship.

 

“DAMMIT SASHA, GET OFF!”

 

“NOT UNTIL YOU HAND OVER THE GOODS!”

 

“LIKE HELL I WILL!”

 

Alright, so apparently this problem was not going to take care of itself. With a groan, Marco shut his locker and turned to face his two immature friends.

 

In all honesty, after spending over three years with these two, Marco should be both fully aware of how far Sasha and Connie are willing to take their scuffles as well as fully prepared to deal with the situation no matter how strange it got. However, as Marco watched Sasha viciously performing the Heimlich maneuver on a struggling Connie who was trying to stuff the entirety of his blueberry muffin down his throat in one go, Marco decided that there were some things in life that should just be left alone.

 

“Um, I don't want to be too late, so I'm going to go ahead to class. I'll see you two there, right?” Marco started slowly edging towards the direction of their first class, but waited for a reply of some kind before heading off. As long as he got a verbal confirmation that no, they were not going to kill each other and yes, they both planned on making it to class fully intact, Marco could run off with a clean conscience.

 

Sasha turned her head towards Marco, her expression shifting from violent intent to a cheery smile in a split second. Marco couldn't help a nervous swallow. Sasha's uncanny ability to shift between moods in the blink of an eye never ceased to amaze and alarm him.

 

“Of course, Mar-Mar! See you there!” And after another quick flash of her dazzling smile, she switched her attention back to Connie and her bloodthirsty aura returned.

 

Deciding to let the unflattering nickname slide this time, Marco settled on just rolling his eyes as he started off towards his first class. He knew he'd still be a little late, but he finds some solace in the fact that at least it wasn't his fault. He placed the blame for that exclusively on Connie, who had once again overslept and had made Marco and Sasha wait outside his house for a full twenty minutes that morning before finally rushing out and jumping into Sasha's car with three muffins and an inside out shirt. At least the man had been smart enough to bring peace offerings. Otherwise, Marco's pretty sure Sasha would have torn him to pieces right then and there.

 

Marco was startled out of his thoughts when a sudden gust of wind rushed past him and he felt the weight of a heavy backpack slam into his shoulder. Luckily he was able to keep his balance and avoid falling over, but he still couldn't stop the slight yelp that escaped his lips.

 

With a frown, Marco rubbed at his now aching shoulder as he watched the sources of his fright continue barreling down the hallway. He tried to get a better look at who they were before they ran out of sight. The only feature he could zero in on though was the unusual two-toned hair cut worn by the boy on the left.

 

Marco frowned even more as he felt a familiar blush warm his cheeks. _Every damn time._

 

As he started walking again, Marco tried to ignore the fleeting butterflies that danced in his stomach and instead focused on straightening out his pale blue sweater. He was already going to be late but he definitely didn't want to look like a blushing mess when he walked in as well.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE'RE GONNA DIE AND IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!”

 

“SHUT UP AND RUN, HORSEFACE!”

 

Jean could barely process where he was going as he frantically raced down the halls with Jaeger right beside him. He couldn't believe his bad luck! Of course today, of all days, just HAD to be the day when Jaeger calls him out of the blue asking for a ride to school. Apparently he had forgotten that Mikasa had agreed to take Armin to school early today.

 

Honestly, at first he'd been ready to tell Jaeger to 'suck it' and that it served him right for failing to get his driver's license for the eighth time (Jean swore that every driving instructor in the state had a black list with “Eren Jaeger” written in bold right on top). But then he remembered that his first period teacher had been very clear last week when he said that if EITHER of them were late to his class again, he would make them BOTH wish they had never been born.

 

And so here they were, sprinting down the halls to their first period class like a couple of cheating husbands running from their enraged and shotgun wielding wives. Perfect. Juuuuuuust perfect.

 

In their haste, Jean is fairly certain that both of them have crashed into at least a dozen other students, but he can't bring himself to care when he knows that he is surely about to incur Professor Levi's pure, unadulterated wrath. Yeah, that's right. Their first period French teacher was called Professor Levi. What highschool teacher demands that his students refer to him as _professor_? Professor Levi, that's who. And while Jean and Eren could spend all day mocking his short height and his pompous little cravat, that didn't change the fact that the man honestly scared the living shit out of them.

 

Once the door to their classroom finally came into sight, Jean noticed that said door was slowly closing. He and Eren mustered up one last burst of speed as they charged to the door and literally flung themselves inside.

 

Or...at least, that had been the plan. In reality, after they had both launched themselves, their bodies ended up twisting in such a way that they got stuck in the doorway. The impact had been jarring to say the least, given the insane amount of momentum they had managed to build up getting there in the first place. All they could do was lay there on the floor in a tangled, wheezing mess as they ignored the poorly stifled laughter that filled the room and tried to reclaim the breath that had been so viciously knocked out of them.

 

“Well, well, well. Look what we have here.”

 

Jean visibly paled as he and Eren were engulfed in a shadow that had no right to be as large as it was given the height of the one casting it.

 

“It seems that the bell has managed to drag two fatheaded slackers into my otherwise pristine classroom. I believe you both know what this means, don't you boys?”

 

From their tangled position on the floor, both Jean and Eren are overcome by a cold shiver that raced down their spines. Jean couldn't help the feeling of despair that pitted in his stomach. _We're fucked_.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Marco let out a sigh of relief when the bell signaling the end of first period finally rang. He was lucky that his first period teacher, Mr. Smith, was pretty forgiving when it came to students being a few minutes late. Sasha and Connie, on the other hand, never stood a chance. Not only had they busted into the classroom a full twenty minutes late, but they had also looked as though they had just stumbled out of a car crash. In addition to the numerous scratches and bruises that littered his face and arms, Connie's t-shirt had the left sleeve ripped off and the neck of the shirt was so stretched out that it was hanging off one of his shoulders. As for Sasha, she had what appeared to be bite marks on her hands and wrists, her blouse and skirt were totally askew, and her hair looked like she'd put it through a weed-whacker.

 

The silence that had followed Sasha and Connie's grand entrance was horribly unnerving and Marco had found himself sliding down in his seat out of second-hand embarrassment. As for Mr. Smith, he had just stared at the two for a solid three minutes before raising his arm to point at the door. Thank god Sasha and Connie were able to take the hint and they had slowly backed out of the room, shutting the door after them. Marco had spent the rest of first period regretting the fact that he hadn't stopped his friends' fight before he had left for class.

 

But, now that that was done and over with, Marco was more than happy that his next period happened to be a free period. He took his time gathering up his notebook and numerous pens (Marco insisted on taking color coded notes) before swinging his purple backpack over his shoulder and leaving the classroom.

 

Most people thought having a free period so early in the day was a waste, but Marco loved it. Not only did it allow him some time to finish up any homework he may have left off the night before, but it also meant that he'd be able to relax in his little comfort nook in peace and quiet since hardly anyone went to the school library so early in the morning. And yes, he was fully aware of how nerdy that made him sound, but Marco didn't enjoy staying in the library just because it was a library. See, when Marco says 'comfort nook', he's literally talking about a little nook in the library, mostly hidden from view, that Marco had discovered during his freshmen year. To this day, Marco still believes that lugging his sister's old beanbag chair, two pillows, and a blanket all the way from home to the school library to place in his little nook was the best idea he's ever had. All he had to do was make friends with the eccentric librarian and convince them to help him keep his little nook a secret, which had been much easier than he had thought it would be.

 

Marco continued to let his mind wander as he made his way down the crowded halls, weaving past groups of noisy teens and bulky backpacks. With one hand, he hooked his thumb on the strap of his backpack that he kept slung over his shoulder, while he tapped his other hand against his thigh to an unknown beat. He didn't let the stares bother him. He was pretty much used to them by now, and to be honest, most of the student body had gotten used to his rather unorthodox style as well. There were still the usual inquisitive stares from those who couldn't help but be curious to see what Marco Bodt, the Pastel Boy of Trost High, had chosen to wear that particular day.

 

But that didn't mean that everyone at Trost High was quite so accepting. He knew that among the curiosity there were still a good number of unwelcoming glares that took in his pale sky blue sweater, sea foam green pants, coral pink converse, and brightly colored hair clips with utter distaste and ignorant judgment. However, after so many years of dealing with the backlash for being 'different', Marco was comfortable in his own skin and displayed his colorful fashion style proudly, no matter how girly or unnatural others thought it made him look.

 

Upon finally reaching the school library, Marco gave a quick wave 'hello' to Hanji, the hyper-active librarian, who quickly returned the greeting with a smile before launching back into whatever passionate spiel she had been spouting at Moblit, her clearly overwhelmed and underpaid library assistant. Marco felt bad for the poor man, but was too focused on reaching his little nook to dwell on Moblit's misfortune for very long. He climbed the staircase to the second floor, jumping two steps at a time, and then followed the familiar path to the Foreign Languages section. Luckily, a majority of the library's seating areas were on the first floor, so people really only went to the second floor if they were looking for something specific. And even then, the Foreign Languages section hardly saw any visitors, which made the fact that this was where Marco's little nook was located even better. It made it less likely that someone would disturb him.

 

Marco followed alongside the wall as he passed stack after stack of books until he finally reached the end. There in the corner against the wall sat a large trolly haphazardly filled with various books of all sizes. The trolley's placement had been Hanji's idea, and Marco had to admit that it was genius. The few people who did make their way back here were usually so engrossed in finding what they were looking for that they just passed the trolley without a second glance, and never noticed the curtain behind it that covered the small opening in the wall.

 

After a quick look around, just to double check that no one was nearby, Marco pulled the trolley back from the curtained opening and knelt down. While his little comfort nook certainly wasn't very large, it was still big enough to cozy. It was wide enough that if Marco were to stretch out his arms to his sides he would be able to get both elbows up with room to spare, and it has high enough for Marco to be able to sit up in his bean bag chair comfortably. Marco shrugged off his backpack and tossed it in first before crawling in after it, pausing only to pull the large trolley back to it's original position.

 

Once inside, Marco felt along the right hand wall for the little reading lamp that he had duck-taped to the wall. He quickly found it and turned the little knob, blinking a few times as the small area was suddenly filled with light. With a sigh of contentment, Marco flopped down into the large cushy bean bag and grabbed the nearest pillow to hold to his chest. After the crazy morning he'd had, Marco wanted nothing more than to take a much needed nap.

 

However, not even moments after he'd closed his eyes, a loud crash and a voice rang out from outside his little nook. Marco recognized the voice in a heartbeat and felt his stomach flip.

 

“This is bullshit!”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“This is bullshit!” Jean whined as he and Eren finally dropped the unholy stack of books Professor Levi had forced them to carry all the way up here in a loud clatter. Their crazy little bastard of a French teacher had claimed Jean and Eren as his own personal slaves for the next two weeks as punishment for being “ungainly, puerile heathens who continuously defiled the sanctity of his classroom with their asinine behavior.”

 

And that's how they ended up stuck having to spend their only free period hauling large stacks of books from Professor Levi's office back to the library. Jean swore the man had been stockpiling them in preparation for this exact situation. And to make matter's worse, he was also positive that the crazy-ass librarian was in on it too. When they had finally made it to the library, the librarian had forced them to take the books upstairs to the Foreign Language section and re-shelve them on their own instead of just leaving them in the usual drop-off pile.

 

“Let's just get this the fuck over with,” Eren grumbled as he reached down to pick up a book.

 

“This is a waste of my free time.” Jean groaned and bent down to grab a book as well. Quickly scanning the shelves, Jean shoved the book into the first free space he found.

 

“Riiiiight,” Eren scoffed. “Like you have something better to do.”

 

Jean glared at his companion. “Anything's better than this.”

 

Eren frowned in bitter agreement as he grabbed another book. They worked in silence for a bit before the brunette decided to break it again.

 

“So, whatever happened to that dude from Reiner's party last weekend?”

 

“Who are you talking about?” Jean gave Eren a confused glare as he forced another book into a tight gap in the shelving.

 

Eren rolled his eyes. “Oh gee, I don't know, maybe the guy you were sucking face with all fucking night!”

 

Jean groaned at Eren's irritating tone. Thinking back, Jean did have vague memories of groping some blonde dude at Reiner's last party. Most of it was still a drunken blur, but Jean was pretty certain they had ended up in the pool shed at some point and had started getting hot and heavy before Jean backed off just in time to avoid throwing up all over the guy's bare chest. He didn't remember much after that, just knew that Reiner had apparently found him passed out in the backyard without his shirt and had hauled him back inside. By the time he had woken up the next day, he was nursing the mother of all hangovers and his face and chest had been covered in poorly drawn dicks (courtesy of Eren and Reiner).

 

“Shit man, how should I know?” Jean grumbled. “I don't even think we was from our school, just a 'friend of a friend of a friend' who had decided to show up.” He ran a hand through his hair, feeling the longer strands on top slide through his fingers before flopping back down. Jean had left in such a hurry that morning that he hadn't had time to style his hair into the slight faux-hawk that he usually wore.

 

“You are so fucking hopeless,” Eren sneered as he shook his head. “Maybe if you actually gave a damn and put in a little effort you'd be able to find some tail and keep it rather than just tapping whatever hot piece of ass comes your way.”

 

“Why should I give a shit about what you think, Jaeger!” Jean felt his irritation rising higher and higher.

 

Eren just laughed and looked at Jean with a mocking expression. “Of course, the day you manage to start even a vaguely lasting relationship with someone is the day Professor Levi get's rid of that stick up his ass.”

 

Ok, now Jean was pissed. “What the fuck makes you think I can't keep a relationship!?”

 

“Maybe the fact that you've never been in one?”

 

“Of course I have!”

 

Eren gave him an incredulous look and crossed his arms. “Oh yeah? Name one person you've stayed with for more than a week!”

 

Jean had to pause for a few seconds more than he would have liked. “M-Mina Carolina!”

 

“That was two weeks and the only reason you lasted that long was because she could get us concert tickets!”

 

“Uh...Thomas! I was with him for like, a month!”

 

“Yeah, while you messed around with his older brother on the side!”

 

“Ok, that seriously had not been planned.”

 

“Don't care! Still doesn't count!”

 

“Fine! Then...Hitch?” Jean mentally kicked himself for letting it come out as more of a question than a statement.

 

At that one, Eren snorted and laughed out loud. “Are you seriously bringing up a girl from kindergarten that you agreed to push on the swings in return for her extra pudding cup at lunch!?”

 

“Shut it, Jaeger, it's not that funny,” Jean grumbled as Eren laughed even harder.

 

“Accept it, Horse-face! You couldn't keep a girlfriend OR a boyfriend for longer than a month even if you tried!”

 

“I totally could!” Jean tried to keep himself from sounding too much like a petulant child, but Eren had him so wound up that there was only so much he could do. _Dammit, Jaeger!_

 

“Oh yeah? Wanna bet!?” Eren asked with a wicked gleam in his eyes. Jean didn't like where this was going, but he'd be damned if he was gonna back down now. He had way too much pride for that.

 

“You're on!”

 

Eren grinned victoriously. “Fine then! Today at lunch we're gonna pick someone out, and you have one week to get them to agree to go on a date with you. Once you manage that, or should I say if you manage that, you have to then hold on to them until prom night! And if I so much as see you bat your eyes at someone else during that time, you lose!”

 

“Deal,” Jean agreed quickly. If he lingered too long on just how fucking crazy this plan was, he risked the possibility of convincing himself to back out, and there was no way in hell he was gonna let Eren win this! “What are the stakes?”

 

At that, Eren made a positively evil smile. “If you lose, you have to shave your head!”

 

Jean blanched and choked on air. Any doubts he may have had about his chances in this bet were pushed out the window by shear determination. He would NOT be shaving his head!

 

“Fine! But if I win, you have dress up in drag for the last week of school!” Jean smirked as he noticed Eren's confidence waver for a moment before shaking it off.

 

“It's on! But for now, let's get the fuck out of here.” Eren placed the last book on the shelf and then stretched his arms above his head. “This place gives me the creeps.”

 

“What's is it, Eren? Don't like being surrounded by books you can't read?”

 

“Can it, asshole!”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Marco listened as Jean and Eren's footsteps grew fainter and let out a shaky breath once he was sure they were gone.

 

“Well,” Marco sighed to himself as he tried to calm his nervous heartbeat. “That was certainly interesting.”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“Helloooooo! Earth to Mar-Mar!”

 

Marco snapped out of his thoughts at Sasha's use of that horrid pet-name.

 

“Come on, Sash, I told you not to call me that!” Marco pleaded as he brought his attention back to the food in front of him that he had just been pushing around absentmindedly with his fork.

 

“Seriously though, Marco. You've been out of it since the moment we got here. What's up?” Connie asked as he simultaneously stuffed fries in his mouth. In his defense, when you sat at the same lunch table as Sasha Braus, you learned to eat fast if you didn't want half your meal to get stolen by Sasha's greedy stomach. But the sight still made Marco cringe.

 

“At least eat with your mouth closed, Connie.” Marco had to admit though, it was true that he hadn't been very attentive to his friends. In fact, he had been in somewhat of a daze ever since overhearing Jean and Eren's conversation in the library. He wasn't even sure why, because it wasn't like it had anything to do with him, but he tried to convince himself that it had absolutely nothing to do with the hottie sporting a two-toned undercut and snakebites that made Marco's heart skip a beat.

 

Marco sighed again. _Right, who was he kidding?_

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“How about her?”

 

“Fuck no! Don't you remember when Sean was with her? She had him spending at least a hundred bucks a week on her before he got smart enough to bail.”

 

Eren shivered. “Oh yeah. Alright then, how about Millius?”

 

Jean shook his head. “Been there, done that.”

 

“Christ, Jean, you are not making this easy,” Eren groaned as he rolled his eyes, to which Jean just shrugged.

 

“Why can't it just be Armin?”

 

Jean could have sworn he saw Eren tense up at his suggestion, but he pushed the thought aside when Eren turned to face him with a scowl. “Too easy! He'd probably just stay with you out of pity!”

 

“Yeah right, whatever you say, Eren.” Jean made sure his dripping sarcasm was clearly evident.

 

“Whatever it is you two are getting yourselves into this time, I want no part in it,” the blonde boy in question spoke up before Jean and Eren could entertain the idea much longer.

 

Armin sat across from the two boys at the table, holding a book in one hand and a sandwich in the other. He hadn't even bothered to look up at the two when he'd spoken.

 

“Oh come on, Armin, don't be like that,” Jean teased as he leaned across the table towards the unamused blonde. “Besides, Jaeger's the one who started it this time.”

 

“Traitor!”

 

Armin rolled his eyes and took a bite of his sandwich. “I don't care who started it. Last time I let myself get involved in one of your silly arguments I ended up with a broken nose and a sprained wrist.”

 

Both Jean and Eren had the good sense to look sheepish as they reflected upon that particular incident. It had been during sophomore year when and they both had moved up to the varsity team in basketball. Eren had been bragging about how much muscle he was building up and Jean had bet him that he couldn't run twenty laps around the court while carrying over a hundred pounds of weight without stopping. Next thing he knew, Eren was running around the court like a madman on a mission with a terrified Armin clinging onto his back for dear life. Needless to say, it didn't end well. Not even six laps in, Eren had lost his balance and both boys had crashed to the floor. Jean had been too busy rolling around on the floor laughing his fucking ass off to notice the incoming storm that was Mikasa and had found himself caught up in the destruction. By the end of it all, Mikasa had gently led an injured Armin to the nurse's office, leaving the other two boys groaning in pain on the gym floor. That had also been the day that any remaining romantic feelings Jean had held for Mikasa had been snuffed out and replaced by healthy doses of fear and respect.

 

“That's it!”

 

Jean was shaken from his reverie when Eren slammed his hands on the table and nearly jumped out of his seat.

 

“What's what?” Jean grumbled, still annoyed by the rude awakening. But Eren just grabbed the top of Jean's head and pointed it towards a specific direction in the cafeteria.

 

“That's your target!”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“Look, guys, I promise that there's nothing wrong! I'm fine and if I weren't I would be sure to tell you,” Marco insisted as he made another attempt to placate his friends' worries.

 

Sasha and Connie narrowed their eyes and stared closely at Marco, as though looking for any sort of evidence to prove that their freckled friend was lying.

 

“Well, all right then, if you really insist,” Connie said as he started backing off a bit.

 

Sasha, however, stood her ground. “Are you sure there's nothing bothering you? It's not like you to be this out of it for so long. I mean, I even stole your sweet role without you even noticing.” The brunette girl then held up said sweet role in her hand as if to further validate her point.

 

Marco let out an indignant huff as he quickly leaned forward and rescued his sweet role from Sasha's grasp, ignoring the girl's whining complaints as he took a big bite. Sasha did have a point though. He seriously must have been really lost in thought if he didn't even notice her stealing his precious sweet role. Marco had an outrageous sweet tooth, so he usually kept vigilant watch over his sweets whenever Sasha was around.

 

Another tray full of food was haphazardly dumped on the table and Marco cringed. He didn't have to look to know exactly who that tray belonged to.

 

“I don't know why you morons are acting all clueless! Whenever freckles here goes off to la-la land, there's only one thing he could be thinking about,” Ymir exclaimed as she unceremoniously dropped into the chair beside Marco. “It's that two-toned prince of his!”

 

Sometimes, Marco really hated his cousin.

 

“Ymir, can't you just leave him alone today?” Krista's gentle, chiding voice was music to Marco's ears.

 

Ymir just grinned and slung her arm around the little blonde angel that had taken a seat beside her. “Sorry, Krista! But it's too much fun! I mean, just look at those blushing freckled cheeks!”

 

Marco quickly batted away Ymir's hand before she could actually start pinching his cheeks. There was never a single day when he didn't regret confiding in his friends that he had a slight crush on the school's basketball star and resident punk.

 

Ymir laughed as Marco swatted at her, but she complied in ceasing her attack nevertheless. Now that her attention wasn't focused on Marco, Ymir finally got the chance to notice Sasha and Connie's appearance, which was still heavily disheveled from their fight that morning.

 

“What the fuck happened to you two dipshits?”

 

“Don't ask,” Marco sighed as he rested his elbows on the table and his head in his hands.

 

Connie started mumbling some halfhearted excuse about Sasha being a half-gorilla half-banshee demon child, but Sasha's attention seemed to have focused in on something else.

 

“Speaking of two-toned princes -” Sasha trailed off with a smile that was seriously making Marco feel nervous.

 

“Sasha -” Marco started to warn but was cut off again, only this time by Connie.

 

“Dude, turn around! Looks like you've got a couple new admirers.” Connie nodded his head towards something behind Marco.

 

He almost didn't want to look, but curiosity got the better of him and Marco slowly turned around in his seat to see what the others were looking at. Sure enough, on the other side of the cafeteria, Marco noticed two boys had their attention zeroed in on Marco's table. One of the boys quickly locked his gaze with Marco's and Marco couldn't help the shiver that raced down his spine nor the blush that filled his cheeks as he took in the boy's half-lidded amber eyes and somewhat cocky smile. Marco's heart raced as he held Jean's gaze, but he turned back around in a rush the second Jean's tongue teasingly licked his upper lip.

 

_This could not be happening._

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

At first, when Eren had pointed his head towards a table across the room, Jean had been confused.

 

“You'd better not be talking about that bald guy.”

 

“No, dumbass! I'm talking about Marco!”

 

That didn't help his confusion. “Marco?”

 

Eren gave Jean a look that just screamed 'are you fucking kidding me right now!?'

 

“Duh! Marco Bodt! That kid whose always wearing bright colored clothes 'n junk!”

 

“You mean Pastel Boy?”

 

“Yeah, whatever, just look again!”

 

Jean grumbled about Eren's less-than-polite tone, but looked back at the table nonetheless. This time Jean noticed that there indeed sat the pastel covered boy that passed him in the halls sometimes. To be honest, he'd never really given the boy a second glance. They never really had any classes together (apparently the boy was super smart or something, so he took mostly honors classes; Jean shuttered at the thought) and they where in completely different social groups, so it really wasn't that much of a surprise. But now that Jean looked him over closely, he had to wonder why he hadn't paid the freckled boy more attention until now (a voice in his head tried to point out that it was because Jean was a lazy ass who usually just let his conquests come to him rather than seeking them out himself, but that was beside the point).

 

Marco Bodt appeared to be decently tall with long legs, and his broad back and shoulders indicated that he certainly wasn't lanky. The way his pale blue sweater stretched tightly across the muscles of his back made Jean grin in appreciation. Even the pastel clothing and the colored hair clips he wore in his dark chocolate locks did nothing to hide the fact that this boy's body was anything but girly.

 

Jean had been so engrossed in watching Marco that it had actually taken him a moment to register the fact that said boy was now looking right back at him. Jean quickly caught Marco's gaze and couldn't help the swell of pride he felt when Marco's cheeks immediately blushed a rosy pink. The boy looked hot when he blushed, Jean decided as he saw how beautifully the pink contrasted with Marco's naturally tan skin and freckled cheeks. Jean swore those innocent blushing cheeks were just begging for corruption, and Jean was more than happy to supply.  _God, those damn adorable freckles!_

 

Jean unconsciously licked his upper lip at the thought of kissing every single one of those freckles and hoped he had freckles over the rest of his body too.

 

After Marco quickly turned back around in his seat, Jean's smirk grew even wider. If he was going to have to stick with one person for the next few months, this boy was definitely a good choice. Not only would it be child's play to get this freckled beauty eating out of the palm of his hand, but he couldn't see himself getting bored too quickly with a dish like Marco Bodt.

 

Jean stood up, his gaze never once leaving Marco's back. “Game on!”

 

“What- You're gonna make your move NOW!?” The incredulous look on Eren's face was enough to make Jean laugh as he pushed up the sleeves of his jacket to show off his forearms and ran a hand through his hair.

 

“Watch closely, Jaeger, and you may just learn a thing or two.” Jean sent one last smirk in Eren's direction before strutting off towards the 'soon-to-be-his' freckled cutie's table, vaguely aware of Eren mumbling something under his breath about cocky horses.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: Jean pulls out his best moves and Marco decides that it's time to play a game of his own.
> 
> I hope you all enjoyed this first installment! My goal is to try and get one chapter out a week.
> 
> Also, anything that I post on tumblr for this story is going to be tagged under both #fic: TNGB and #This Nerd's Got Bite
> 
> Until next week! :)


	2. Game On

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean was sure of three things: 1) He'll never get tired of Marco's blush, 2) Eren's a lil' shit, and 3) little sisters suck.
> 
> Marco was sure of three things: 1) Friends are embarrassing, 2) Jean was ridiculously cocky, and 3) moms can be exasperating, but they always know just what to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, SWEET JESUS APPLETINI CHRIST AND LINCOLN'S MULLET!!! Over 900 hits!?!? WHAT!?!?!??? Can I please take a moment to stand here on my soapbox and shout out my undying love for all of you!?!?!!
> 
> Seriously guys, I am shocked and truly humbled by all the love and support that this fic has received from chapter one alone. So thank you thank you thank you to everyone who commented, or left kudos, or bookmarked, or even just took the time to actually read the first chapter of this fic. I love you all!!! (づ￣ ³￣)づ I can only hope that this next chapter manages to live up to your expectations.
> 
> Second of all, on a smaller note, I've posted sketches of pastel!Marco and punk!Jean on my tumblr, so if you're interested you can find them [here](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com/post/92760687488/thought-id-post-the-two-lovebirds-together-as). I'll probably be posting more tngb art when I get the time. Also, I've started tracking the tags "fic: tngb" and "This Nerd's Got Bite" on tumblr. So if you post anything about the fic that you want me to see, use those tags so I can find it! :D
> 
> And as always, any and all comments about how I can improve my writing and such are much appreciated, and here's my [tumblr!](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com)

“Marco, are you alright?”

 

“Fuck! Look at his cheeks! They're pinker than strawberry shortcake!”

 

“Ymir, be nice!”

 

_This is not happening. This is not happening. This is definitely not happening!_

 

Marco forced himself to take deep breaths, trying to calm down. Meanwhile, the rest of his friends seemed to crowd in on him, trying to coax him into talking. Sasha in particular was beside herself, practically bouncing up and down in her seat.

 

“Marco Bodt, you need to look me in the eye right now and tell me that I did in fact just witness Jean licking his lips at you!”

 

“S-Sasha, I -”

 

“Tell me!” Sasha was now leaning over the table, ignoring Connie's attempts to try and pull her back down to her seat.

 

“Uh, guys...”

 

“Shut up, Con! Now tell me, Marco, let me hear it! Did you or did you not just eye-fuck with him!”

 

Marco blushed even harder. “God, Sash! No!”

 

“Don't you lie to me, Mar-Mar!”

 

“I told you to stop using that name!”

 

“Seriously, guys! He's -” Connie tried again, but no one was paying attention to him.

 

“I'll stop using that name after you tell me the truth!”

 

“I just did! Nothing hap -”

 

“GUYS!” Connie finally shouted, only to have Sasha turn on him so fast it nearly made his head spin.

 

“WHAT!?” She roared, the wild state of her hair only adding to the predatory nature of the glare she was sending Connie.

 

“If you want to know so bad, why don't you just ask Prince Charming himself?”

 

Marco visibly paled. Connie had this smug look on his face that said 'I know something you don't know' and it scared the living shit out of him. However, he didn't have too much time to dwell on it before someone behind him cleared their throat.

 

_Oh god, please don't tell me..._

 

But the looks on his friends' faces said it all. Connie was shaking his head, probably to say 'I did try to warn you', while Sasha just stared at the person standing behind Marco with wide eyes and her mouth open like a gaping fish. Even Ymir, who had been sitting back and enjoying the show till now, held a slight look of surprise. Yeah, that said it all. Marco didn't need to ask who it was standing behind him, but he didn't dare turn around to verify.

 

The person gave a light chuckle before finally speaking up. “Sorry, I hope I didn't interrupt.”

 

Marco shivered. That was his first time hearing that voice up close, and he hated how quickly his body reacted to it. There was no doubt now that it was indeed Jean Kirschtein standing behind him, and the boy sounded far more amused than apologetic.

 

“Don't worry, Jean. I think an interruption would be welcome.” Thank the heavens for Krista, who seemed to be the only one at the table who was actually capable of spoken word.

 

“Well then, in that case...” Jean's voice, while still retaining that touch of amusement, now held a deep sultriness that made Marco's cheeks burn even brighter. And as if that wasn't enough, Marco also felt Jean lean in closer to his back as he bent down to rest one arm along the back of Marco's chair and the other on the table. Marco gulped and tried to resist the temptation to turn his head and face the boy whose breath he could now feel tickling his neck.

 

“I was hoping I could borrow Marco here for a moment,” Jean finished, and Marco could practically hear his cocky grin through the way he spoke.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Jean never once took his eyes off Marco. Every time he thought the freckled boy's cheeks couldn't possibly blush any brighter, they did, and it was goddamn adorable.

 

“Oh, sure,” the small blonde girl replied with a smile and stood with her tray. “We were all just getting ready to leave anyway, so you and Marco can have the table to yourselves.”

 

The pair that was sitting across from Marco looked ready to protest, but before they could speak up

they were cut off when the brunette girl next to Marco stood up with her tray and wrapped an arm around the blonde girl's shoulders.

 

“Come on, Sashonnie. Let the two lovebirds finish their mating dance in peace!”

 

Jean had to hold in another laugh when Marco, who had obviously found his friend's comment to be entirely unnecessary and unhelpful, buried his face in his hands in a futile attempt to try and hide his blushing.

 

Nevertheless, the pair grudgingly got up and gathered their trays.

 

“Fine,” the girl grumbled, “but don't think that this is over, Mar-Mar! We're finishing our little discussion later!”

 

“Sasha! Leave!” Marco sounded desperate at this point, and even though the boy was still hiding his face in his hands, Jean would bet anything that Marco's blush had increased even more.

 

The girl (or Sasha, as Jean now knew) just gave a satisfied huff before marching off, dragging the bald boy after her.

 

Once it was finally just Jean and Marco alone at the table, Jean pulled out the seat to Marco's left and sat down. He sat sideways in the chair so that he was still facing the freckled boy and leaned onto the table, resting his elbow on the table top and his chin on the palm of his hand.

 

“So,” Jean started, not bothering to hide the amusement in his voice. “They seemed nice.”

 

Marco gave a muffled snort, and Jean couldn't help but chuckle.

 

“You have no idea.” Marco's voice came out slightly mumbled, but Jean could still detect the exasperation in Marco's words.

 

After another moment, Marco finally lifted his head from his hands with a long sigh and turned to face Jean for the first time since their little staring game earlier. His cheeks were still stained a cherry red and Jean loved the sight.

 

“S-So...what did you need to borrow me for?” Marco asked, his arms now crossed over his stomach.

 

Jean gave another soft laugh. _Finally, it's game time!_

 

He swung one leg over the chair so that he was now straddling the it backwards and let his back lean against the table, his elbows resting on the table top. He made sure that his unzipped jacket was now hanging from his shoulders, leaving his chest exposed. Thank god he had grabbed a tight fitting t-shirt that morning. _Ha! Check out them moves, Jaeger! Eat your fucking heart out!_

 

Jean turned his head to look at Marco again and felt his pride swell upon seeing Marco's eyes nervously darting back and forth between Jean's torso and the table top. _Perfect!_

 

“Well, I was actually gonna ask if you wouldn't mind doing me a favor,” Jean finally replied.

 

At that, Marco quickly lifted his gaze from the table and back to Jean, confusion written all over his face.

 

“A favor?” Marco's eyes were narrowed and his voice sounded slightly distrusting.

 

“Yep, a favor.”

 

Jean couldn't quite place Marco's next expression. It was like, anger maybe? No...disappointment? But as quickly as the expression had appeared, it was gone and replaced once again with a look of confusion. Jean just ignored it, figuring his eyes were playing tricks on him.

 

“What kind of favor?” Marco asked.

 

With a grin, Jean leaned a little closer towards Marco. “Meet me after school.”

 

Marco shook his head, as though he wasn't quite sure he had heard correctly.

 

“Meet you after school?”

 

“Yep.”

 

“That's all?”

 

“Yep.” Jean smirked, knowing that he had this in the bag. Nothing like a little suspense to leave the freckled cutie begging for more!

 

“Um...alright, I mean -” Marco raised one arm to gently scratch at the tip of his nose in what Jean assumed to be a nervous habit. _Fucking adorable._ “- I guess that's fine. Where are we meeting?”

 

Jean gave Marco a giant grin before smoothly getting up off the chair.

 

“Don't worry about that. I'll come to you,” Jean said as he stretched (*cough* flexed *cough*) his arms and quickly licked his top lip, once again loving how Marco's cheeks reacted immediately. “I can't wait.”

 

And with that, Jean left Marco with a quick wink before he shoved his hands in his jean pockets and walked out of the cafeteria. _Jean Kirschtein, you are one smooth mother fucker!_

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

The rest of Marco's classes passed by in a washed out blur. Funny how that seemed to be happening a lot today. But no matter how hard Marco tried to pay attention, he just couldn't stop thinking about Jean and what had happened at lunch. Jean had never paid Marco any attention before. Hell, they'd never even spoken a word to each other until today! And as exciting as it was that the boy he had been crushing on for years now had finally noticed him, he couldn't bring himself to feel happy about it.

Because it wasn't real. It was all just a part of that stupid bet.

 

_But that look in his eyes..._

 

Marco sighed as the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day, but he made no move to get up from his seat. He looked down at the large assortment of colored pens that lay on top of his open notebook instead, letting his mind replay those few moments that he and Jean had shared when their eyes first met in the cafeteria.

 

Contrary to what most people who met Marco liked to believe, Marco was not naïve when it came to things of a sexual nature. And while his exploits had been few in number, and he still proudly held his 'v-card', Marco Bodt was still far from innocent. He knew lust when he saw it, and there was no doubt in his mind that that was exactly what he had seen in Jean's eyes today.

 

And that was the reason why Marco felt so torn. While he certainly saw that Jean was indeed attracted to him physically to some level, Marco also knew that the only reason Jean had made a move (hell, probably the only reason he had noticed him at all) in the first place was because of that stupid bet he had made with his friend. In the end, wasn't he nothing more than a pawn in their game?

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“Jesus, Kirschtein, would you please just wipe that horribly self-satisfied grin off your ugly face?” Eren whined as they sat in their last class of the day, counting down the minutes till the bell rang. “It's making me nauseous.”

 

“Aww c'mon, Jaeger,” Jean replied, his voice dripping with utter amusement at his friend's displeasure.

 

“Just because our bet isn't looking too good for you doesn't mean you get to act like a grumpy little shit.”

 

“I hate you.”

 

“Oh wait! You _always_ act like a grumpy little shit! My bad!”

 

“I really fucking hate you.” Eren sat at his desk, using a black sharpie to make dozens of stick figure doodles in his notebook, all of which fell under the category of 'ways to injure, kill, or otherwise maim Jean Kirschtein.' Unfortunately for Eren, this only managed to add to Jean's pleased amusement.

 

“Face it, Jaeger, you're only upset because my moves are obviously so much smoother than yours.”

 

Eren scoffed and continued doodling furiously. “Save it for when he actually agrees to go out with you, Kirschtein. Which, by the way, you still haven't even asked him yet.”

 

Unfazed by Eren's words, Jean leaned back in his seat and placed his hands behind his head. “That's where part two of my plan comes in.”

 

“What are you gonna do, serenade him at his locker till he finally gives in?”

 

Jean rolled his eyes. “No, dumbass! He's gonna go to his locker only to be greeted by me leaning against it in all my chiseled, studly glory. And once he's finished swooning, _then_ I'll ask him out.”

 

Eren mumbled some choice words about Jean's inflated ego under his breath before lifting his head from his notebook to finally look at Jean.

 

“So I'm assuming you know where his locker is then, right?”

 

The bell rung and Jean sat frozen in his seat.

 

_Well fuck..._

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Marco shook his head before finally gathering up his things and leaving the classroom. He knew that he still had to meet up with Jean again, and while he had no clue what the handsome boy had planned, Marco did know for certain what Jean's goal was. Why did he even agree to this again?

 

_Oh yeah...those eyes._

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

By the time Jean had finally managed to find Marco's locker after asking everyone he passed where it was (and by 'ask' he meant 'grabbed them by the collar and shook them until they told him what he needed'), he was out of breath and trying desperately to fix his hair. It was only by pure luck that Jean had been able to find the locker before Marco had returned, and he knew that the freckled boy could arrive at any second now.

 

Jean shook his head and tried to look as calm and collected as possible. He wanted to look relaxed and effortless when Marco saw him, and he couldn't do that if he was still sweating and panting like a bear right out of hibernation. After a few more deep breaths and wiping the sweat from his brow with his sleeve, Jean leaned against the cool metal of the locker and sighed in relief. _Man, that felt nice..._

 

“So, you really weren't kidding when you said you'd come to me.”

 

_Shit!_

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Marco felt a small flicker of satisfaction when Jean practically jumped upon hearing his voice. To Jean's credit though, he recovered quickly and once again leaned back against the locker with his usual smirk.

 

“I'm a man of my word, Marco,” Jean finally replied.

 

Not really knowing what else to do, Marco just nodded and shifted awkwardly on his feet.

 

“So...what exactly did you want to see me for?” Marco tried his best to feign ignorance. He figured it would be best if Jean didn't know that he had overheard the conversation in the library that morning. Not that it really mattered much. After all, Marco was about to publicly reject him in the school hallway, so it's not like accidental eavesdropping would hurt Jean's opinion of him any further after that.

 

“So you can tell me what time I should pick you up tomorrow,” Jean answered with a sly grin.

 

Marco froze.

 

“Um...excuse me?”

 

Jean just shook his head and laughed. “For our date, Freckles. What time should I pick you up?” The way Jean said it implied that it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 

_Is this guy for real?_

 

So instead of actually asking him out on a date, Jean was just assuming that he'd say yes?

 

Marco felt his hand clench into a fist at his side. He usually wasn't one to get easily angered. But this...this was just too much.

 

“What date?” Marco fought to keep his voice as neutral as possible as Jean gave him an 'are you serious' look.

 

“C'mon, Marco. You didn't think I just wanted to borrow your notes, did you?” Jean took a few steps towards Marco, his body language exuding a predatory nature. “You really are innocent aren't you? Damn that's adorable!”

 

Jean's amused laugh sent Marco over the edge, and suddenly he knew exactly what to do.

 

If this was the way Jean wanted to play, then fine! Two can play at this game, and if Jean thought Marco was entering with a handicap then he was dead wrong. Marco had his own tricks up his sleeve and he was going to have Jean begging for mercy by the time he was through. After all, from what he'd heard, he'd have an entire semester to do it. Jean Kirschtein was going to learn what it was like to have to work for what he wanted!

 

“Marco? You okay?”

 

_Alright, time to get to work._

 

Marco quickly shook his head, pretending to act bashful.

 

“S-Sorry! This is...this is still kinda new to me.” Marco knew he was laying it on thick, but Jean seemed to be eating it up. Thank god for all of those childhood theater classes his Ma made him take!

 

Jean laughed again and took another step towards Marco. He was now so close that their feet were only inches apart.

 

“How about this, then,” Jean said as his eyes traced Marco's body up and down. “Where's you phone?”

 

“Um, it's in my back pocket. Why- ,” Marco started before he was suddenly cut off by Jean nearly pressing up against him and snaking both of his hands around Marco's waist to slide them into the back pockets of his pants.

 

Marco let out a small involuntary gasp as Jean pulled out Marco's phone with one hand and let the other hand linger a moment longer before he finally withdrew and took a step back.

 

“Wait, what are you-”

 

But Jean just winked at Marco as he finished typing something on his phone and then handed it back.

 

“I'll see you tomorrow, cutie.” And with that, Jean gave Marco one last smirk and another quick lick of his upper lip before turning on his heel and walking away.

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Jean felt like he was on top of the world as he left with a swagger in his step. Now that he had the boy's cell number, all he had to do was wait till after Basketball practice to-

 

_Wait..._

 

Jean quickly looked down at his watch and cursed before he took off running towards the gym. He was already late for practice and Coach Shadis would have his head on a silver platter if he didn't hurry the fuck up!

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Marco watched Jean saunter off before sighing and looking down at his phone. He found out that Jean had entered his number into Marco's phone and then texted himself. However, it was the name he had entered himself under that made Marco roll his eyes.

 

 **From** **PrinceCharming** : see ya latr princess ;)

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Okay, so maybe this wasn't going to be quite as easy as Jean had previously thought.

 

After suffering through a particularly brutal practice (Jean was convinced Coach Shadis found waaaaaay too much pleasure in torturing his players until they could barely stand), Jean had gone home with the intention of texting Marco when he was suddenly hit with a cruel realization.

 

He had no fucking clue where to take Marco on their date tomorrow.

 

Jean ran his fingers through his hair as he paced back and forth in his room. As much as he fucking hated to admit it, Eren had been right when he'd said that Jean's actual 'dating' experience was little to none. In fact, he couldn't think of a single first date he'd ever been on. All of his past relationships (if you could even call them that) were pretty much just random hookups that Jean had decided to repeat a few more times for whatever reason before moving on. He'd never had to concern himself with the complicated ritual of 'first dates', and like hell was he going to resort to using some cliché dinner-and-a-movie technique!

 

“You should be careful not to overheat that brain of yours, Kirschtein. Wouldn't want you loosing what little brain cells you have left.”

 

Jean groaned in irritation at the 'thoughtful consideration' that had been so smugly provided from the freeloader currently hogging his bed. He had almost forgotten about the unwanted hitchhiker he'd ended up bringing home, but there he was, sprawled over his mattress while twirling a basketball on his finger. _Showoff._

 

“If you're gonna be an unhelpful lil' shit, why don't you just leave already!” Jean grabbed a shirt that had been hanging over a nearby chair and flung it at Eren's face, making the boy lose control of the ball.

 

Eren just laughed as he tossed the shirt to the floor and sat up.

 

“Why don't you just accept the fact that you have no fucking clue what you're doing and that you desperately need dating advice!”

 

“And why don't _you_ jus-”

 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Jeanbo's got a date? Like an actual date!?”

 

Great. Fan-fucking-tastic. As if things could not get any more annoying.

 

“Get out of my room, Adele!” Jean shouted at his little sister, who had so rudely barged in, but she just narrowed her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him like the fucking mature fourteen-year-old that she was.  
  


“Nope! I only came in the first place to tell you that dinner's ready and mom wants to know if Eren is going to eat with us.”

 

“No!”

 

“Hell yeah!”

 

Both boys had answered simultaneously.

 

“Go get food at your own place, you lazy bum!”

 

“Fuck no! Have you even tasted your mom's lasagna?! It's like, pure awesomey goodness!”

 

“That's not even a wor-”

 

“Whatever! Who cares!” Adele yelled over the squabbling boys as she crossed her arms over her chest. “No hurry up and tell me how Jeanbo managed to actually ask someone out on date!”

 

“Oh my gosh! Jean, you asked someone to go on a date?!”

 

Jean nearly screamed when his mother suddenly appeared behind his sister in the doorway, and now Eren was rolling around on Jean's bed laughing like a fucking asshole.

 

“Does no one respect the sanctity of privacy any more!?!”

 

Adele rolled her eyes. “It's not like you were exactly quiet, dumbass! I could hear you guys shouting about it from down the hall.”

 

“Adele! You will not be using that kind of language in this house!” His Mom scolded before turning her attention back to Jean, leaving Adele to grumble under her breath about Jean having the mouth of a sailor. “Pumpkin, do you really have a date? Are you going to invite her over? Or is it a boy? Do we get to meet him?”

 

“Mom! Stop!”

 

“Yeah, pumpkin! Tell your mom all about your hot date tomorrow!” Eren teased. He was laughing so hard now that he could barely breath. _Please let the bastard suffocate himself to death!_

 

“And here I always thought hell would freeze over before Jeanbo managed to stop being a horny prick long enough to get an actual date,” Adele muttered.

 

“OH MY GOD! EVERYONE JUST OUT OF MY GODDAMN ROOM!”

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

“I already told you, Ma. It's just a date.”

 

Marco had long since given up on trying to get any work done as he sat at the kitchen counter. From the moment he had told his Mom and Ma that he had plans for tomorrow, they had bombarded him with a million questions. And after the way Sasha had mercilessly grilled him in the car after school, having to fend off his mothers' curiosity was the last thing he needed.

 

“Aww, c'mon honey,” his Ma begged, already having abandoned the vegetables she had been chopping in favor of trying to squeeze more information out of her son. “You can't just spring this kind of news on us and expect to leave us in the dark!”

 

He sighed as he did his best to ignore Ma's rather impressive puppy-dog eyes. It was moments like this one when Marco found it hard to believe that he was actually adopted. He was so much like his mothers it was almost scary. Mom always told him that it was Freckled Fate that brought them together, since Marco had the same tan, freckled skin and dark coffee hair as his Mom. His 'dramatic flare', however, more closely resembled his Ma's.

 

After another ten minutes of resisting Ma as she pleaded for more info about his mystery man (What's his name? Is he tall? Does he have nice skin? Does he have an accent?), Mom finally took pity on him and dragged Ma's attention back to cooking. Marco couldn't be more grateful. He loved his mothers, he really did, but sometimes living with two women who were both equally as curious and excited about their son's love-life was truly overwhelming.

 

The rest of the evening thankfully passed by peacefully. His mothers graciously avoided the topic of his big date tomorrow during dinner and Marco welcomed the chance to relax and settle his mind. It was nice to finally sit down and focus on something other than Jean Kirschtein. In fact, he made it his mission to spend the rest of the night without dwelling on Jean and his cocky personality and fantastic bod. He instead gave his full attention to the television screen and whatever crime drama it was that his Mom had insisted on watching.

 

One would think that being a police officer would turn you off from shows like that, but it didn't seem to hinder his Mom at all. It was kind of amusing, actually, how intensely involved his Mom would get as she watched the investigators on the screen work whatever case they had that week. She'd praise them whenever they made a new breakthrough and she'd curse their utter incompetence whenever they missed something vital that she seemed to think was glaringly obvious. At the moment, she was shouting at one of the investigators for letting the victim's neighbor, who was so clearly the killer, leave the station without so much as an inch of suspicion.

 

Marco, however, was more focused on the fact that said investigator happened to have gorgeous hair. Like, dear-god-please-let-me-run-my-fingers-through-it kind of hair. It looked so soft too. He bet it was soft. Jean's hair looked soft. He wondered what Jean's hair would feel li-

 

_Damn._

 

Maybe it was too much to ask for a few hours where the two-toned boy wouldn't invade his thoughts. He inwardly groaned and stood up, deciding he might as well try and get some extra sleep tonight. It was a little past ten anyway, so it wasn't like it was too early or anything. He bid his Mom goodnight and started heading to his room.

 

“Marco?”

 

He paused by the stairwell and turned to face his Mom. She gave him that warm smile of hers that never failed to put him at ease. Leave it to Mom to see right through him whenever he tried to hide the fact that something was bothering him.

 

“Tomorrow will be just fine, Marco, you'll see. All you have to do is be yourself.”

 

Marco stood there, frozen, for moment or two before a soft chuckle escaped from his lips.

 

_If only you knew, Mom. If only you knew._

 

“Thanks, Mom.” And he meant it, cause even though she may not know the whole truth about what was going on, she still managed to encourage him.

 

She nodded and gave him another smile before waving her hand at the staircase and turning back to watch her show, careful not to jostle Ma who had fallen asleep on the couch with her head on Mom's lap.

 

“Now hurry up and go get your beauty sleep.”

 

Marco rolled his eyes as he climbed the stairs and smiled to himself. Mom was right. He could do this. He was ready.

 

_That cocky two-toned stud had better prepare himself, because Marco was going to make damn sure he gave Jean the surprise of his life tomorrow!_

 

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

 

Jean let out a loud groan as he finally flopped down on his bed and stretched himself out. Tonight had been a nightmare that had gone from bad to worse.

 

He'd thought he would be able to get Eren and his family to stop bothering him about his date with Marco once they had all sat down for dinner. After all, there weren't many things that could get Eren to shut up, but his Mom's cooking was certainly one of them. And at first it had worked, as Eren became more interested in stuffing his face than bothering Jean and his Mom became more focused on correcting her children's table manners (the fact that she harped on him for setting a single elbow on the table while ignoring the way Eren shoveled down his food like a Hoover vaccum was a crime in and of itself).

 

But of course, the moment Jean had finally thought that things were going his way, his Dad had called. He had been away on a business trip to London for the past few days and he always made sure to call home every night. When Jean had been younger, he had always looked forward to those calls whenever his Dad was gone for business. He would grasp the phone with both hands and jump up and down as he told his Dad everything he had done that day and then begged him to tell more stories about whatever strange land he was visiting. But now he was older, and even though he still secretly loved it when his Dad called home from his trips (he had a 'cool, aloof teenager' image to maintain though), tonight that phone call had been the bane of his existence.

 

Why? Because his Dad always asked the same question every time he called: “What's new?”

 

And just like that, the floodgates had reopened.

 

Despite the fact that Mom had already put the phone on speaker, Adele had ripped the device from Mom's hand so she could start shouting into it that they needed to start doomsday prepping immediately because Jean had asked someone out on a genuine date which meant the world was ending and the zombie apocalypse was imminent. From there, the conversation had degraded into an all out fight between him and his sister while Eren started on his third helping of food and egged them on. His Mom had done her best to try and get the situation under control with no help whatsoever from Dad, whose booming laughter could be heard over the ruckus every now and then.

 

Welcome to a typical night in the Kirschtein household. Anyone wanna switch places? Didn't think so.

 

After Mom had given both of her children a solid whack upside the head with a serving spoon (which was actually alright, because Eren had laughed so hard that he started choking on his food, which made everything better), things had calmed down enough for his Dad to quickly wish him luck on his date before taking pity on his son by changing the topic to ask what everyone wanted him to bring home from London. That had quickly gotten Adele to start listing every brand and flavor of chocolate that Dad had to get and Jean had sighed in relief as the focus finally shifted away from his love-life.

 

After that, he and Eren had spent the rest of the evening challenging each other in Mario Kart while Adele watched from the couch and told them how much their driving sucked. Her input generally fell on deaf ears, however, as Jean and Eren were too busy trying to sabotage each other. It wasn't until after ten that both boys had called it quits, whining about their new bruises.

 

At that point, Eren had announced that he needed to get going, which was all fine and well until Jean noticed Eren staring at him and realized that Eren expected Jean to drive him home. He had put up as much resistance as he could, but it was ruined when his Mom walked by and told Jean to stop being rude and drive his friend home. _Traitor._

 

By the time he had finally gotten back home it was already past eleven and Jean found himself tired as fuck. Which had led to his current position, sprawled out on his bed.

 

Jean sighed as he stared at his ceiling and mulled over his date tomorrow. He had at least come up with a plan on his way home from dropping off Eren for where to take Marco, and he had to admit it was a damn good one.

 

He had already played out dozens of scenarios for tomorrow in his head. Each one was grander than the one before it and ranged from steamy make-out sessions in the back of his car to saving Marco from a band of Ninjas and then reveling in the rewards as the boy expressed his gratitude by ripping off their clothes and begging Jean to ravage him right then and there. Jean didn't even remember falling asleep as he immersed himself in his freckled fantasies.

 

_That freckled cutie had better prepare himself, because Jean was going to woo the fuck out of him tomorrow!_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next time: The first date!!! Jean pulls out his best game to impress Marco, and Marco pulls out a few tricks of his own.
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. I know that there hasn't been a whole lot of action yet, but I promise things will pick up starting next chapter! See you all next week! o((*^▽^*))o


	3. The First Date (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco was sure of three things: 1) Dreams are awesome, 2) cold water is not, and 3) Jean is still a cocky stud.
> 
> Jean was sure of three things: 1) Little sister can actually be helpful sometimes (though they still suck!), 2) Poker Face is a good song (Shut up! Lady Gaga is awesome, ok?!), and 3) Marco looks goddamn adorable when he pouts.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so so sorry that this took me so much longer than expected to finish! :( To be honest, I'm still not completely finished with what was originally going to be chapter 3, but it was just getting waaaay too long so I decided to split it and post it in two parts. Unfortunately, this first part is rather short, but it was the least awkward place to split it. So I promise the next part will be much longer!
> 
> Also, while this first part has not been beta read yet, I'd like to announce that the lovely [adarklytantalizingtale](http://adarklytantalizingtale.tumblr.com/) is now my beta for this fic! (“⌒∇⌒”) Since I made you guys wait so long for this update I decided to just post this part straight away and I'll update later with any fixes after it's been beta read. 
> 
> As always, feel free to find me on [tumblr](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com), and I'm tracking the tags "fic: tngb" and "This Nerd's Got Bite".
> 
> Also, thank you sooooo much to everyone who gave such lovely comments, both here and on tumblr! I appreciate it so much more than you know, and you guys motivate me even more in my journey writing this fic. And yes, I know I probably sound super cheesy right now, but I can't help it! I love you guys! (∩˃o˂∩) <3

“ _Marco, w-wai-”_

 

_The two-toned blonde shivered under Marco's touch, his breath coming out in panting gasps as his back arched from the cool metal lockers._

 

“ _Someone might still come ba-” Jean was quickly interrupted by a deep, guttural moan that ripped from his throat when Marco's fingers trailed down his back, surely leaving angry red paths in their wake. Marco knew that Jean was only barely holding on to his last few strands of restraint and every moan, every gasp, and every whimper the boy made was music to Marco's ears._

 

_Jean's bare torso glistened with sweat and saliva as Marco slowly dragged his tongue back down the firm expanse of Jean's stomach, reveling in how the muscles would twitch and quiver from his touch. He sighed in pleasure as the sweet, salty tang of Jean's heated skin filled his taste buds. Marco had always harbored a bit of an oral fixation, and listening to Jean fall apart as Marco licked and sucked at the boy like he would a lollipop was downright sexy._

 

_As he continued his ministrations with his tongue, Marco made sure to pay extra attention to the defined V of Jean's hips that disappeared teasingly into his basketball shorts. Jean let out another lewd moan as Marco's tongue traced the firm ridge of muscle, lapping at the little dip where it met the waistband of his shorts. Fuck, he could listen to that wrecked voice all day._

 

_Marco sat back on his heels and took a moment to take in Jean's disheveled appearance. And fuck if he didn't look sexy as hell. The boy had his back leaning against the row of lockers, his body slick and flushed with heat. His breath escaped his parted lips in erratic puffs and his half-lidded eyes flitted back and forth between Marco and the door that led from the boys locker room back to the gym. He must still be worried that one of his teammates might walk in on them. Or, more specifically, might walk in and see Jean in such a vulnerable state._

 

_Marco chuckled as he stood up and leaned in close to Jean. He ran his index finger across Jean's collar bone to his shoulder and then followed the defined lines of muscle down his arm until he reached the jersey tank that firmly tied Jean's wrists behind his back. Marco let out another soft laugh before running his tongue down Jean's neck._

 

“ _Marco,” Jean pleaded in a stuttered gasp as Marco began to suckle at Jean's collar bone._

 

_He knew that the boy hated not being in control._

 

“ _Marco!”_

 

_But Marco was going to make him love it._

 

“MARCO!”

 

The sudden wave of frigid water was like a shock to Marco's system and he immediately bolted upright in bed. _What the -_

 

“Rise and shine, Sleeping Beauty!”

 

Marco groaned and dropped his head into his hands to try and rub some of the sleep from his eyes before facing Ma. Luckily for him, the cold water had effectively gotten rid of any 'evidence' that may have pointed to the content of Marco's dream.

 

“What was that for?!”

 

Ma, who was holding a now empty glass, had this pleased smile on her face as she shook her head at him. “Now, now, Marco, don't shoot the messenger,” she said as she reached into her pocket to pull something out and then threw it onto Marco's bed. It took a moment for Marco's still sleep hazed mind to register that the object was his cell phone.

 

“You left it in the living room last night,” Ma said with a smile.

 

Marco rolled his eyes. “And you decided that giving it back to me was soooo important that it required dousing me with cold water?” he asked incredulously.

 

Ma just shrugged before turning around to leave. “It's not my fault you're such a heavy sleeper.”

 

“Riiiiight.” Marco sighed before noticing that his Ma had paused in the doorway.

 

“What now?”

 

“You got a text message.” Ma's grin had grown even wider and Marco didn't like it one bit. “I believe it was from a mister...oh what was it...Prince Charming? I believe?”

 

So that's why Ma was acting so smug. Marco felt his cheeks burn as he quickly grabbed his pillow to hurl at the doorway, but Ma had already slipped back into the hallway. He could still hear her loud giggling echoing back to his room. _Dammit._

 

His sulking was interrupted however when his phone chimed, signaling he'd received another message. Picking up his phone, Marco laid back down in his bed to see what 'Prince Charming' had to say.

 

**From PrinceCharming: hey princess sleep well?**

 

**From PrinceCharming: hop u did, cus Im gonna show u a whole new wrld today ;)**

 

**From PrinceCharming: whats ur adress so I can pick u up at 12?**

 

Marco cringed at the horrible spelling and grammar. Did that boy's phone just not have auto-correct? Regardless, Marco texted Jean back with his address before tossing his phone to the side.

 

He stared up at the ceiling while his stomach filled with butterflies as he once again thought about his situation with Jean and about the game he was about to play with him. And to Marco's surprise, the more he thought about it, the less nervous and more excited he got. _Jean Kirschtein, YOU are the one whose about to be shown a whole new world._

 

 

\-------------------------------

 

 

Tight jeans that hugged his ass? _Check._

 

Loose-fitted red tank that showed off his toned arms? _Check._

 

Perfectly styled hair? _Check._

 

Devilishly handsome smile? _Check._

 

Jean looked at his reflection in the mirror one more time, triple checking that everything was in order. After a final turn (yep, these jeans really were his best pair) and finding everything to his satisfaction, he gave a pleased sigh and rested his hands behind his head.

 

“You are one handsome mother fu-”

 

“Oh my god! Gross! Get a room!”

 

“Fuck off, Adele!” Jean shouted as he grabbed a nearby pillow to hurl at his little sister, who had so rudely invaded his space. “And I'm already in a room, dumbass.”

 

Adele just dodged the pillow and rolled her eyes at her brother's dramatics. “Geez, you're such a drama queen. Don't get your panties in a twist.”

 

Jean growled and crossed his arms over his chest as he walked up to his sister. “Do you have a reason for being here besides being an annoying little brat? Cause I happen to have a hot date to get to, if you don't recall, and you're wasting my time.”

 

“I just came to give you a few last minute dating tips before you left. You know, cause I'm such a caring sister and all,” she replied with a smile. Oh how Jean hated those I'm-taking-pity-on-you-you-poor-fool smiles of hers.

 

“Gee, thanks, I don't know what I'd do without your all-knowing dating wisdom,” Jean replied sarcastically as he grabbed his wallet and keys from his desk and pushed past Adele to leave the room.

 

To Jean's utter displeasure, Adele followed him all the way downstairs and out the front door, shouting out pieces of 'advice' the whole damn time.

 

“Remember to open the car door for him!”

 

“Shut up, Adele.”

 

“And don't you dare just park outside his house and honk your horn!”

 

“Adele!”

 

“Cause that's just tacky and rude!”

 

“I'm just going to ignore you now.”

 

“Oh! And I know it'll be difficult, but don't be a dick!”

 

“Will you just fuck off already!?”

 

 

\-------------------------------

 

 

“Alright, I think this will be fine,” Marco said to himself as he looked in the mirror. After much consideration, he had finally settled on an outfit that he'd deemed acceptable. The dark turquoise shorts fit him well and the color complemented his light coral pink v-neck tee.

 

He let out a pleased sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. Marco knew he should probably think about getting his hair trimmed, since the bangs were now long enough to reach his eyes, but he couldn't bring himself to care enough to actually get it done when it was easy enough to just use hair clips to hold back his longer bangs. And so, after putting on some lime green hair clips that Sasha had given him and grabbing his lavender knit beanie, he declared himself officially ready.

 

Marco looked down at his watch and noticed that it was just about noon, meaning that Jean would be arriving at any moment.

 

Almost as if on queue, the doorbell rang from downstairs. Well, at least he had the good sense to actually come up to the door. Marco had half expected him to just honk his car horn from the driveway.

 

_Alright this is it._

 

After one last check to make sure he had his wallet, Marco raced downstairs, knowing he had a limited amount of time to answer the door before Ma intercepted it. He had made her promise last night not to interfere when Jean arrived to pick him up, but Marco knew his Ma well, and her curiosity had a tendency of getting the best of her.

 

Luckily, when Marco made it down to the front door, Ma was no where in sight. Of course, that just meant that she had already positioned herself in the living room so she could spy on them from the window, but hey, it was better than having her jump on Jean the moment he opened the door and throwing rapid-fire questions at him.

 

Marco shook his head and took a deep breath before finally opening the door. And sure enough, there stood Jean, looking unfairly sexy in a tank and jeans and wearing his trademark cocky grin.

 

Jean's eyes shamelessly roamed up and down Marco's form, licking his lips in appreciation.

 

_Goddamn that tongue of his._

 

 

\-------------------------------

 

 

As Jean took in Marco's appearance after he finally opened the door, Jean came to the conclusion that no man should look so goddamn hot and masculine while wearing pink and turquoise. And was that a fucking purple beanie on his head? Damn, this guy was like a walking rainbow!

 

“Looking good, princess,” Jean said as he gave Marco a wink of approval.

 

Marco just rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. _Have his arms always been that toned?_

 

“That's going to have to stop.”

 

“What's gonna have to stop?” Jean asked with a smirk, knowing exactly what Marco was referring to.

 

“Calling me princess,” Marco replied. His voice was firm and Jean loved how hot the freckled boy looked when he tried to be all serious and shit.

 

Jean shrugged before he turned around to start heading back to his car. “Fine, but I'm just gonna start calling you something else instead.” Jean paused halfway to his car and looked behind him to see Marco still standing at the front door. “You coming, babe?”

 

Marco huffed at the new name, making Jean chuckle at the adorable way that Marco's bottom lip seemed to push out. _Did this boy know how fucking cute he was?_

 

Regardless, the freckled boy finally followed Jean out to his car, giving a somewhat shy 'thanks' when Jean held open the passenger side door for him. Jean was determined to make sure that Adele never found out that some of her 'advice' was actually helpful.

 

Once they finally hit the road, Jean was surprised at how easily they fell into comfortable small talk. Jean had assumed that he would need to spend more time coaxing Marco out his shell at first, but the freckled boy seemed content to carry on the conversion. Hell, the boy even poked fun at his secret love for Lady Gaga when Jean's iPod started playing Poker Face. This had resulted in a mini debate over which of her songs were their favorite and Jean nearly slammed on the breaks in shock when Marco shyly admitted that “Teeth” was his favorite song.

 

 

\-------------------------------

 

 

Marco found it a bit weird at first to consciously try to act like the innocent little flower most people assumed him to be. At least his natural tendency to blush at the drop of a pin was actually helpful for once. However, Marco soon found a comfortable rhythm conversing with Jean. The boy was surprisingly easy to talk to despite Marco's unfortunate inclination to get distracted by Jean's finely toned arms. He even decided to take the opportunity to tease the blonde every now and then, which certainly paid off when Marco announced that “Teeth” was his favorite Lady Gaga song and Jean looked like he'd nearly swallowed his tongue in shock.

 

As time passed, though, there was still one thing that Marco was curious about and eventually he decided to bring it up.

 

“So, Jean?”

 

“Yeah?” Jean replied with a relaxed grin.

 

“Where exactly are we going today?”

 

 

\-------------------------------

 

 

Jean had been wondering when the freckled boy would ask about their destination, and when he finally did Jean just let out a small chuckle and gave Marco a teasing wink.

 

“You'll see when we get there.”

 

Marco didn't seem to be pleased with Jean's answered and pouted a bit, making Jean laugh again.

 

“Trust me, babe, we'll be there in just a few minutes and I promise you'll love it,” Jean replied, taking the steering wheel in one hand so he could use the other to pat Marco's knee.

 

While Marco continued to pout and mutter under his breath about not being a babe, Jean just reveled in how adorably sexy his freckled cutie looked when he pouted. But the moment they pulled up to their destination, Jean was treated to a sight that was far better. Because the moment Marco realized where they were, he gasped is delight and sat up in his seat, his eyes lighting up like christmas trees.

 

“Ok, you were right, I love it!”

 

Jean couldn't help but do a little victory dance in his head. _Score!_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, I'm so sorry this update is so short and not much happens, but I promise the next chapter will be much more exciting ;)
> 
> Thank you for reading, and I'll see you all next chapter!


	4. The First Date (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jean was sure of three things: 1) Marco has one hell of a sweet tooth, 2) because NO ONE should eat that much cotton candy, and 3) Marco Bodt was full of surprises.
> 
> Marco was sure of three things: 1) Amusement parks are awesome, 2) Messing with Jean Kirschtein is a blast, and 3) he really should have gone to a few basketball games.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, so before I get to my usual spiel, I would like to take a moment to squeal like the total fangirl that I am and proclaim my undying love for all of you who have left such heartwarming comments about this story, both here and on tumblr! Seriously guys, every time I get stuck when I'm writing this, all I have to do is look at your awesome comments and the motivation is back ten-fold!!!
> 
> Also, HOLY WOW this fic has fanart now!?!?!!! Oh my gosh, I am so over the moon right now I can't even believe it! A huge shout out to [tiiedye](http://tiiedye.tumblr.com) who drew [Marco](http://tiiedye.tumblr.com/post/95161895098/i-am-in-love-with-the-marco-depicted-in) in his lavender beanie, [fandom-ramblings](http://fandom-ramblings.tumblr.com) who drew [Marco](http://fandom-ramblings.tumblr.com/post/95355218147/i-didnt-give-up-this-ones-going-in-the-folder-to) in his full date outfit, and [marco---yolo](http://marco---yolo.tumblr.com) who drew [Jean AND Marco AND Connie AND Sasha AND Professor Levi scaring the shit out of Jean and Eren!](http://marco---yolo.tumblr.com/post/95504039236/fiiinally-heres-the-fanart-i-promised) I could tell you how loudly I screamed when I saw each of your posts, but only my roommates will ever know the true horror of how loud my screams of joy had been. In short, I fucking love you guys! (∩˃o˂∩)
> 
> In other news, my beta unfortunately had to step down because she had too much already on her plate. Which means this fic is once again without a beta, so if anyone is interested in possibly working with me as beta for this fic, please please let me know!
> 
> Also, now that classes have started again, chapters will be coming out every two to three weeks. I really wish I could stick to my earlier goal of posting a chapter a week, but since my chapters have been getting longer (I ended up having to split the date into three chapters instead of two cause I really wanted to update for you guys before labor day ended, I'm so sorry!), I just need the extra time to write them without rushing. 
> 
> As always, here's my [tumblr](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com), and I'm tracking the tags "fic: tngb" and "This Nerd's Got Bite". I always love hearing from you guys, so please feel free to contact me anytime on tumblr :) I also posted a quick drawing of Marco giving Jean a goodluck kiss before a game, so you can check it out [here](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com/post/95056609808/marco-gives-jean-a-good-luck-kiss-before-his-game) if you're interested. 
> 
> In closing, thank you all, and I hope you enjoy chapter 4!

To be completely honest, Marco had half expected Jean to just take him to whatever wild house party was being thrown that weekend. So, needless to say, he had been a bit surprised when Jean had said that he'd pick Marco up at noon and not later in the evening. However, as they pulled up to Colossus Park, Marco realized that he hadn't given Jean enough credit.

 

As Jean went through the arduous process of securing a parking spot (which, in his case, involved a fair amount of cussing and rude gestures directed at “fucking soccer moms and their fucking mini-vans”), Marco felt his excitement bubble up inside him. It had been a while since he'd last been to an amusement park, and while Trost wasn't necessarily the largest city around, Colossus Park could hold it's own against Six Flags any day. It took all Marco had just to keep himself from literally bouncing up and down in his seat.

 

In fact, he'd been so focused on trying to contain himself that he hadn't even realized they had stopped until Jean opened the passenger side door for Marco with what could only be described as a smug grin.

 

“I knew you'd love it,” Jean said as he rested his chin on top of the car door.

 

Marco rolled his eyes as he stepped out of the car, which only seemed to amuse the blond even more. He was about to reply with a snarky response of his own before he caught himself.

 

_C'mon Marco, keep it together! You're supposed to be playing a role here!_

 

With a sigh and a quick shake of his head, Marco scratched his cheek in a shy gesture. “Yeah, yeah you're right. I love it.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

As they explored Colossus Park together, Jean found himself learning more and more about his freckled date. Of course there were the little things, like how Marco would scrunch up his nose the tiniest bit whenever a line was too long, or how he seemed to have an unconscious habit of patting his stomach to some unknown beat whenever he got restless waiting in line. However, there were three things in particular that really stood out.

 

First of all, Marco seemed to have one hell of a sweet tooth. Like, seriously! At first, when he noticed Marco eying a stand selling funnel cakes, Jean didn't think much of it. All he had seen was an opportunity to earn some brownie points and had bought a funnel cake for them to share. That was totally romantic, right? Like, sure it was cheesy, but Marco seemed like the type who would totally eat up that cheesy goodness.

 

But then, after the funnel cake came the cotton candy. Jean himself hated the stuff, cause there was no way something that looked like it came straight out of a fairy's asshole was going anywhere near his mouth, but Marco seemed to love it. And so, once again in search of brownie points, Jean had told Marco he'd treat him to a cone of cotton candy. Emphasis on the singular! Cause no one could eat more than one of those sugary masses in a single sitting, right?

 

Wrong!

 

It had all happened so fast, too. Like, one second he was being dragged to the nearest cotton candy stand, and the next he was coughing up twenty bucks while Marco tried to decide which of his three large cones of cotton candy he should eat first. That's right, three! And he finished them all, too!

 

Jean had almost been disgusted as Marco seemed to inhale mass after mass of pure woven sugar, but he found himself unable to look away. It was like watching a train wreck. Part of him wanted to turn away from the horror, but another part of him (a much, much bigger part) couldn't help but ogle. Why? Because the way Marco licked and sucked at the sticky sweet mess that coated his fingers was absolutely enthralling. The freckled boy had been so focused too, as though he was making damn sure that not a single bit of sugar escaped his pink stained lips. Jean was fairly certain he had looked like a total creep, just staring at the boy as he ate, but Marco didn't seem to notice, so whatever.

 

It was after the cotton candy incident that Jean had made his second major discovery about his date.

 

Marco Bodt had a stomach lined with steel.

 

Seriously, it was the only logical conclusion that Jean could come up with, because there was no way anyone could ride five major roller coasters after eating thee fucking gigantic cones of cotton candy without throwing up unless their stomach had some high-grade reinforcement. Hell, just the thought of all that sugar swirling around in Marco's gut was enough to make Jean queasy, but Marco seemed to be totally unaffected.

 

The third piece of information was discovered completely by chance and good fortune on Jean's part. They had been waiting in line for Descent from Wall Maria, one of the larger rides in the park, when Jean had placed a hand on the small of Marco's back in order to guide the distracted boy forward.

 

To be honest, Jean hadn't really thought twice about the action. After all, the line had moved and his only intention had been to get the freckled boy to move with it. But the tiny gasp Marco had let out from the small touch had been enough to peak his curiosity.

 

From then on, Jean had taken every chance he could to touch Marco's lower back, and every time Marco would give a slight quiver and a small gasp, his cheeks flushing a light pink. For Jean, this was like a god-given revelation. He'd been teasing and flirting with Marco all day long, but nothing else had gotten him a reaction like this. The boy was just too goddamn oblivious!

 

Hell, at one point, Jean had even looked Marco straight in the eye and said, “Man, is it hot out here? Or is it just you?”

 

And you know how he responded? Just cocked his head to the side in confusion and assured Jean that his external temperature was just fine.

 

Seriously! Like, sure, Jean knew the kid was pretty inexperienced, but still! Jean was starting to run out of ideas on how to get the freckled boy to show some affection.

 

So now, here they were, wandering around trying to decide what to do next, and Jean was getting desp-

 

And then he saw it. The answer to all his problems.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Marco had to admit, playing the part of a blushing, naïve boy-next-door was turning out to be a lot more fun than he had originally expected. Of course, a lot of that was due to the fact that watching Jean Kirschtein become progressively more and more frustrated, confused, and desperate was one of the most amusing things Marco had ever seen.

 

From the very start, he could tell that Jean expected to have Marco practically hanging off his shoulder like a devoted puppy during their time at Colossus Park, blushing every time Jean made a suggestive comment or touch. So the look on Jean's face the first time Marco had replied to Jean's flirtation with faked confusion or ignorance was priceless.

 

To be honest, as the day went on, Marco had found it harder and harder to hide his amusement as Jean became bolder and bolder in his attempted advances.

 

When Jean tried to subtly grope his ass, Marco just thanked him as though he assumed Jean was just brushing some lint from his pants.

 

When Jean asked him if he ate Luck Charms because he looked magically delicious, Marco cocked his head to the side and asked if that was supposed to be a reference of something.

 

At one point, Jean had tried to get Marco to go with him on the Haunted Tunnel ride, which was one of those Pirates of the Caribbean knock-offs. The only difference was that the boats for the Haunted Tunnel only sat two people and even then it was usually a tight fit, which Marco could easily guess was Jean's main reason for wanting to go. So when they had reached the front of the line and noticed that the kids in front of them were a group of three, Marco saw a golden opportunity.

 

The kids had turned out to be siblings, all around eight to twelve years old, and the young girl was upset because neither of her brothers wanted to ride with her and she didn't want to go by herself. And since Marco needed a new way to mess with Jean anyway, he decided he might as well help out the young girl as well.

 

Needless to say, the girl had been thrilled when Marco had told her that he actually preferred going by himself because it offered more room for his long legs and that Jean would be more than happy to ride with her.

 

Jean, on the other hand, was shocked and horrified. And when the young girl had quickly latched onto his arm and started dragging him towards the next boat, Jean had looked back at Marco with pleading eyes, as though he half expected this to all be some cruel joke and was waiting for Marco say “Just kidding! Of course I'll ride with you! How else are you gonna cop a feel in the dark, right? In fact, while we're at it, why don't I just suck your dick and really give people something to talk about!”

 

Ok...maybe that's a bit much...but still. Jean had NOT been a happy camper.

 

After the ride, Jean had looked so traumatized that Marco felt kinda bad for him (it turned out that the girl had the grip of a Marine and the scream of a banshee). And so, when they had been waiting in line for the next ride and Jean had placed his hand on Marco's lower back, Marco decided to throw him a bone and allowed himself to react to the touch. His lower back had always been sensitive, so Marco doubted he would have been able to completely hide his reaction anyway.

 

From then on, Jean seemed to make a point of touching his lower back whenever he could, and Marco wasn't about to complain. Besides, Marco HAD basically conned Jean into buying him twenty dollars worth of cotton candy earlier that day, so really it seemed only fair.

 

But anyway, back to the present. At the moment, they had just finished riding the last of Colossus Park's large roller coasters, and Marco was about to ask what they should do next when Jean suddenly grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards a bunch of game booths. You know, the ones where you have to complete some ridiculously hard and rigged challenge in hopes of winning one of the numerous stuffed animals lining the walls. Was Jean seriously planning on blowing his money away on these things? Why would he-

 

Unless...

 

No. That couldn't be it. Right?

 

“Um, Jean?” Marco asked, still allowing himself to be led by his determined date.

 

“Don't worry, babe! I've got an idea!” Jean replied with a grin, his eyes never once straying from whatever it was that had caught his attention.

 

Only then had Marco finally realized what it was that Jean's eyes were so focused on.

 

_Oh. Dear. God._

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

This was it! This was the big chance he had waited for!

 

Jean had seen the ugly monstrosity from a distance, what with it's garish neon fur and light up belly. It was like a beacon that guided him forwards, promising a one-way ticket into Marco Bodt's heart and, more importantly, pants.

 

He needed to make the freckled boy want him enough to stay with him for a full semester, right? And what was more romantic than completing a challenge of skill in order to win a gift for your potential lover? And not just any gift, mind you! The BIGGEST gift, because Jean was absolutely positive that no other prize was larger than this colossal mass of pink fuzz and glowing hearts.

 

Besides, Marco loved bright colors and cutesy crap, right? It was perfect!

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

_No. No No No. Please No!_

 

But no matter how much Marco pleaded in his head for this to all be some horrible joke, Jean continued to lead him towards what could only be the most appallingly hideous Teddy Bear Marco had ever seen. The thing had to be at least four feet long and had neon pink fur that burned your eyes if you stared too closely. But the worst part was the glowing, light-up red hearts. There was one on each ear, one on it's nose, and a giant one on it's belly.

 

All in all, it looked like something a frantic husband would buy for his wife on his way home from work after completely forgetting that it was Valentines Day. As though buying the biggest, brightest thing they could possibly find would help mask the fact that they forgot, when really all it did was paint a giant-ass sign that screamed “Last minute gift is last minute!”

 

And yet, here was Jean, obviously hell bent on winning this ghastly horror, and Marco didn't need to guess why.

 

There's no way Marco was going home with that thing!

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

When they finally made it to the booth, Jean realized that he actually hadn't bothered to check what type of game it was before rushing over. But now that they were here, Jean could see that it was some sort of shooting game. The set up was rather simple; small nerf guns were lined up along the front of the booth, and further back was a three level set up that seemed to resemble three walls.

 

Jean turned to grin at Marco, who seemed to be eying the booth with apprehension, before walking up to the bored looking attendant.

 

“Hello, welcome to Titan's Revenge, would you like to try and defend the walls from titans for five dollars?” The attendant never bothered looking up from his comic book as he recited his monotone spiel, just lazily lifted a hand to accept the money.

 

Jean rolled his eyes and shoved a ten dollar bill at the attendant. Marco was still hovering a bit behind him, so Jean grabbed his arm again and pulled him up to the booth.

 

“C'mon, babe, it'll be fun. Just follow my lead.” He gave Marco a confident wink and puffed out his chest a bit. “If you want, I'll go first so you can watch, and then you can go after.”

 

Aw, yeah. Smooth.

 

“A-Alright.”

 

Jean grinned and picked up a nerf gun, trying to ease into his best “I'm a bad-ass gun toting motha-fucka who's about to rock your world” pose as the attendant shuffled over to start the game.

 

This was going to be a cake-walk! After all, he wasn't a master sharp-shooter in Call of Duty for nothing. Not even his friend Reiner could beat his score, and that was saying something, because the big lunk was a beast when it came to video games.

 

So when the game started up and the 'titans' began popping up from behind the prop walls, Jean felt pretty damn confident as he aimed and pulled the trigger.

 

Now, if there's one difference between playing a first-person-shooter video game and using an actual nerf gun to hit actual targets, it's that the two are absolutely nothing alike. And as the game progressed, Jean quickly found his confidence melting into frustration.

 

It wasn't like he was doing horribly or anything. He still managed to hit a fair amount of targets, but most of the time he hit them out of pure luck. Whenever he tried to aim at one specifically, the nerf dart would always zoom off to the side.

 

An electronic buzzer went off, signaling the end of the game, and Jean noticed that his score was no where near high enough to get the grand prize.

 

_Shit._

 

“Wow, Jean, you did really well!” Jean blinked and turned to face Marco, who had this huge grin on his face. “I think you even won something!”

 

Wait, seriously? Marco was impressed? He'd only managed enough points to get a tiny pikachu plushie, but when Jean gave Marco the small prize, the freckled boy looked so goddamn happy you would've thought he'd won the lottery.

 

Well then, maybe this wasn't a total bust after all. Besides, he still had stage two of his brilliant plan, and now that it was Marco's turn to play, Jean was ready to get to work.

 

“Your turn!” Jean smirked as he grabbed Marco by the arm and pulled him stand in front of the nerf gun with Jean right behind him. And after a deep breath and a quick moment to channel his inner Patrick Swayze, Jean reached for the nerf gun and placed it in Marco's grasp, his own hands covering Marco's on the handle.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Marco gave an involuntary swallow when he felt Jean lean in to cover his hands. He should've seen this coming! And maybe if he hadn't been too busy celebrating the fact that he didn't have to go home with a stuffed, four foot monstrosity, he wouldn't have been taken by surprise. But instead, here he was, in the middle of reenacting a scene straight out of Ghost. And while the image of Jean watching a Patrick Swayze chick-flick would usually be extremely amusing, Marco found it hard to concentrate with Jean's warm chest pressed firmly against his back.

 

Jean let out a soft chuckle, and his breath tickled Marco's neck.

 

“Just relax, babe,” Jean whispered as his thumbs stroked Marco's knuckles.

 

_C'mon, Marco, get it together! Besides, there's still the chance that he might be able to turn Jean's little plan right back on him!_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

As Jean pressed closer to Marco's back, he found it increasingly hard to resist burying his face in Marco's shirt. It smelled vaguely like hot cinnamon, and Jean wasn't sure if it was the detergent he used, or his cologne, or if it was just the scent of Marco au naturale, but whatever it was, he couldn't get enough of it.

 

_Focus, Jean! Eye on the prize!_

 

He felt another slight shiver run down Marco's spine.

 

“Just relax, babe.” Jean chuckled as he ran his thumbs along the back of Marco's hands. The attendant had just finished restarting the game, and Jean guided Marco in lifting the nerf gun so that it was aimed and ready.

 

“Ok,” Marco replied as he let out a deep breath and focused on the targets.

 

At first, Jean expected Marco to let him guide his hands for him and pull the trigger whenever Jean prompted him to. Or at least, that was what Jean had assumed would happen when he had run through the scenario in his head. Reality, however, had different plans.

 

Once the first buzzer went off to signal the start of the game, Marco's posture went from stiff to completely relaxed in under a second. And before Jean could even register the change, Marco was moving on his own, aiming and firing the nerf gun with fluid precision.

 

Jean could hardly believe what he was seeing. Marco Bodt, Marco “I wear lavender pants and pink hair clips to school” Bodt, was standing before him and wielding a nerf gun like it was the most natural thing on earth. Hell, he looked like a veteran cop showing off for the rookies at the shooting range, he was that good. And while Marco's score rose higher and higher, all Jean could do was stand there, slack jawed, wondering how the fuck Marco was so good at this.

 

By the time the second buzzer went off, ending the game, Marco had already racked up more than enough points for the grand prize, but he didn't seem to have noticed yet. It was like he was still in his own little world as he let out a sigh and placed the nerf gun back in it's holster, completely unaware that both Jean and the attendant were staring at him as though they had just witnessed the second coming of christ.

 

“How...how did you...” Jean started to ask, words failing him as Marco finally turned to face him with a look of pure, cheerful innocence. “How?”

 

Marco merely chuckled and scratched the back of his neck, a light blush forming on his cheeks. _Was this guy for real?!_

 

“Oh, uh...well, my mom's a cop, and sometimes she'll let me come along when she goes to the shooting range. Her version of mother and son bonding time, I guess.”

 

Jean just continued to stare. “No shit.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

Marco had to really focus on keeping in his laughter as Jean kept staring at him in shock. Honestly, he was close to pulling out his phone and snapping a picture until the game attendant tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

 

“Your prize,” the attendant explained as he held out a giant pink teddy bear.

 

Seeing it up close was enough to make Marco cringe, but luckily, he knew exactly what to do with his prize.

 

And so, Marco thanked the attendant with a smile and grabbed the teddy bear, only to quickly shove shove it at Jean.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

“Pfft- What the- !”

 

Jean was pulled from his thoughts when he suddenly found himself being attacked by a giant mass of pink polyester fur.

 

_No._

 

“For you,” Marco said with smile. “Since you already gave me your prize, I wanted you to have mine.”

 

_No! Goddamnit, no!_

 

What was he supposed to do now?! Just give it back? Like, yeah, thanks but no thanks?

 

No, that wasn't an option. He had to get Marco to fall for him, and Jean was pretty sure turning down a gift would have the opposite effect. Especially when Marco looked so fucking happy about it.

 

_Shit._

 

Jean opened his mouth, trying to come up with something to say, when he noticed a group of tweenage boys off to the side, pointing and laughing hysterically.

 

He grumbled and cursed under his breath, unconsciously clenching the teddy bear tighter in his grip.

 

“I wuv you!”

 

Jean froze.

 

“Wow, I guess it talks too.”

 

Well thank you, Marco, for that brilliant deduction.

 

_Fuck. My. Life._

 

At this point, the boys were laughing so hard that Jean was surprised they hadn't pissed their pants yet. In fact, Jean hoped they did piss their pants, and turned around to tell them exactly that. But before he could open his mouth, something else caught his attention and he immediately took off running.

 

He didn't even bother turning around to see if Marco was following him or not. The shooting stand was a fluke, because before him stood his true salvation, and there was no way Jean was going to fuck it up this time!

 

 

* * *

 

 

When Jean took off, Marco had a two part reaction.

 

First, he whipped out his phone and took as many pictures as he could as fast as he could.

 

Why?

 

Because seeing Jean Kirschtein sprinting through the crowd with all the grace and finesse of a wild bear, ready to plow through anyone who got in his way, all the while holding a giant light-up teddy bear above his head like a grotesque war banner, was perhaps the greatest image Marco had ever had the pleasure of viewing and there was no way he was going to let this pass undocumented.

 

Next, Marco found himself following the path of disgruntled visitors that Jean had left in his wake, apologizing all the way for his date's behavior.

 

Once Marco had finally caught up, he found Jean at one of those basketball booths where you had to make as many baskets as you could within a certain time limit.

 

“Jean!”

 

Jean looked back at Marco with a grin before tossing the stuffed bear at the startled attendant and slamming a five dollar bill on the table.

 

“Shooting nerf guns might be your area of expertise, but this,” Jean said as he picked up a ball and twirled it on his finger, “is mine.”

 

And without waiting another second, Jean shot the ball towards the basket and didn't even wait for it to go in before picking up and shooting the next one. The poor attendant scrambled to start the timer as Jean continued to shoot.

 

To be completely honest, Marco had never gone to any of his school's sporting events, and had therefore never actually seen Jean play basketball before. But seeing him now made Marco deeply regret having skipped out on all those games.

 

If there was one word to describe Jean as he sank shot after shot, it was effortless. From the calm, focused expression on his face to the way the ball flew from the tips of his fingers towards the basket in a graceful arc, Jean made every shot look effortless. And the more Marco watched, the more he noticed that it wasn't just Jean's arms that were propelling the ball upwards. No, Jean put his whole body into every shot, each muscle working in perfect tandem.

 

Marco couldn't take his eyes off of him, and it wasn't only because the movement made his broad shoulders and biceps look, as Jean would put it, 'magically delicious'. He just looked so at peace, so at home. Not at all like the self-centered and over-confident persona he usually wore. This was a side of Jean that made Marco's cheeks flush for reasons beyond just a basic appreciation for Jean's outward appearance, and frankly, Marco found it to be a pleasant surprise.

 

The timer finished and, after one more shot just for the hell of it, Jean finally turned around to face Marco with a smug smile on his face.

 

Marco rolled his eyes and laughed.

 

“Yeah, there's no way I'm going to even try to beat that.”

 

Jean laughed as well before flexing his arms in a strongman pose. “Yeah, well, these babies can become deadly weapons if not used with utmost caution.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, just pick out your prize, Mr. Stud.” Marco chuckled again as he pulled out his phone to check the time while Jean browsed the prize wall.

 

It was late afternoon by that point, so Marco assumed they would probably be leaving soon. He noticed a few texts from Sasha, each one demanding for information about Marco's 'hot date' and threatening him not to leave out the juicy bits. With a sigh, Marco locked his phone and placed it back in his pocket. Sasha could wait a little longer for her precious gossip.

 

He lifted his head to see if Jean was finished yet and was surprised to see the attendant handing Jean a gigantic, lavender unicorn, complete with a cotton teal saddle and reigns.

 

“Here,” Jean said as he held out the stuffed unicorn to Marco. “It matches your hat.”

 

“Wow.” Marco took the unicorn from Jean and tried to figure out a way to hold it where it wouldn't end up smothering his face due to its sheer size. “It certainly does!”

 

At that, Jean burst out laughing and Marco joined right in.

 

It looked like he ended up with a four foot stuffed animal after all. But somehow, Marco didn't mind taking this one home.

 


	5. The First Date (Part 3)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marco was sure of 3 things: 1) Jean was goddamn stubborn, 2) he really wants to meet Jean's little sister someday, and 3) it's all about the trump card. 
> 
> Jean was sure of 3 things: 1) Giant pink teddy bears are satan spawn, 2) Old Man Pixis could be a meddling ass, and 3) Marco's tongue is about to fulfill his dreams!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, everyone! I know it's been a loooooong ass time since I've been able to update this, but the good news is that my animation thesis is done and I finally graduated from university!!!! Which means I once again have time to devote to TNGB! 
> 
> As for this chapter, I think I've re-written it at least a dozen times by now, since the only time I had available to write over the past months has been late at night when I'm super tired and it definitely showed in the writing. Now that I'm more rested and have the spare time, I was able to re-write it once more this past week, and while there are still parts where I think my writing could be better, I'm still happy enough with it to post so I can move on to the good stuff! ;) I only hope you guys enjoy this chapter as much as the others. 
> 
> Also, TNGB has more amazing fanart, which I'm super psyched about! First [maxxiegalaxy](http://maxxiegalaxy.tumblr.com) drew [this](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com/post/103991033448/maxxiegalaxy-this-nerds-got-bite-is-a-really) piece of Marco looking adorable in pastel and holding his cotton candy! AND she even made it into a book cover for the fic! And THEN I found out that [thechosenchu](http://thechosenchu.tumblr.com) drew [this](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com/post/96799713873/thechosenchu-not-gonna-lie-wasnt-a-big-fan-of) and I nearly had a fangirl heart attack, because oh my god, one of my favorite tumblr artists just drew fanart for my fic! (∩˃o˂∩)
> 
> Plus, another HUGE shout out and thank you to all of you who read this fic for bearing with me while I was on hiatus to focus on university work. I swear that this fic WILL get finished, no matter what.
> 
> I do have a question for you all though: would you guys prefer shorter chapters (like around 2000+ words) that come out faster, or longer chapters (around 6-7000+ words) that take a bit more time to come out. Let me know, either here or on tumblr.
> 
> Anywho, as always, here's my [tumblr](http://fangirlregretsnothing.tumblr.com). I always love hearing from you guys, so please feel free to contact me anytime on tumblr :) I'm still tracking the tags "fic: tngb" and "This Nerd's Got Bite" on tumblr, so use those if you post anything related to TNGB, cause I'd love to see it. Tracking tags on tumblr is still a bit wonky though, so sometimes things don't show up for some reason.
> 
> And now, without further ado, I hope you enjoy chapter 5!

“ _I wuv you!_ ”

 

“Godammit – _umf_ – Get in there!”

 

“ _I wuv you!_ ”

 

“Jean, maybe if you-”

 

“ _I wuv you!_ ”

 

“I got this!”

 

“ _I wuv you!_ ”

 

“Okay then.”

 

“ _I wuv you!_ ”

 

“Almost- Fuck! C'mon already!”

 

“ _I wuv you!_ ”

 

If there was one thing that Marco was grateful for today, it was his apparently god-given talent of being able to hold in his laughter even in the most impossible of circumstances.

 

Like this one, for example.

 

It turned out that Jean's car was not designed with absurdly giant stuffed animals in mind. The trunk was only large enough to hold one of the stuffed prizes, which had led to Jean trying to shove the horrendous pink bear into the small backseat of his two door car. And, needless to say, Jean's struggle was beyond amusing. Especially since the more frustrated he became, the harder he would push and shove at the pink mass of cotton, causing it's voice box and light-up belly to trigger with every assault.

 

At this point, Marco was fairly certain that it was pride alone that kept Jean from leaving the damn thing in the parking lot.

 

“Aha! Take that, you oversized cotton ball!” Jean suddenly cried out after finally cramming the pink talking bear into the backseat. “Wuv on THAT, mother fucker!”

 

Yep. Definitely pride.

 

“Congratulations, Jean.” Marco chuckled as Jean continued his strange victory dance.

 

“Why thank you, babe,” Jean replied with a smirk as he flexed his arms for show. “It's all in the guns. Now get in and buckle up. We still have one more stop to make.”

 

Marco raised an eyebrow in question, but Jean just winked and made it clear that he wasn't going to tell him anything else. And so, Marco accepted his fate and got in the car with a sigh.

 

 

* * *

 

 

They had fallen into a comfortable silence after leaving the amusement park, but Jean could tell that Marco was having a hard time reigning in his curiosity. The boy was fidgeting in his seat and looking out the window intently, as though the passing scenery would give him some greater clue as to where they were going. In other words, it was downright adorable.

 

Jean chuckled as he finally turned into a small parking lot and Marco sat up straighter to get a better look.

 

“What is this place?”

 

“You'll see,” Jean answered with a grin as he cut the engine and stepped out of the car, Marco following close behind.

 

It didn't take Marco long to figure it out though, and his smile gave Jean a swell of pride.

 

Dot's Ice Cream Shack was one of those places from Jean's childhood that he would always remain attached to, no matter how old he got. The building itself, true to its name, was basically a small shack with a large open counter in the front and no indoor seating at all. Instead, half of the parking lot had been filled with large wooden picnic tables for customers to sit at after getting their order. In that sense, Jean supposed the place was basically like a stationary food truck.

 

Of course, Dot's wouldn't be Dot's without it's eccentric owner and namesake: Dot Pixis. The bald old man was certainly an interesting character, what with his odd mannerisms and blunt nature, but he was also a man who loved his job and it showed. Jean was pretty sure he had never seen old man Pixis without a smile on his face (or without a flask in his pocket).

 

“Well, well, well, look who's back! Haven't seen you around in a while, Jean. You better not have been cheating on me with another ice cream stand!”

 

Jean smiled at the familiar gruff voice as they approached the counter. “Of course not, old man. You know you're the only one I come to for a fix.”

 

“I better be!” Dot chuckled as he leaned on the counter. “Now stop being a rude little shit and introduce me to your friend over here.”

 

Oh yeah, one of the other reasons Jean liked old man Pixis so much? The old geezer had the mouth of a sailor, and Jean found him to be a constant inspiration in the realm of vulgar language.

 

He turned towards Marco and grabbed his wrist to pull him closer to the counter. The poor boy looked conflicted between amusement and surprise, and Jean couldn't help but grin.

 

“Old man, this is Marco,” Jean introduced. “And Marco, this here is the craziest old fucker you'll ever meet, but he serves the best damn Rocky Road in the county.”

 

Marco appeared momentarily shocked (probably due to Jean having just called an old man a 'crazy old fucker' to his face), but didn't have much time to dwell on it before Pixis burst out in a loud chorus of laughter that made Marco jump a little.

 

“Damn straight, kid! Now, I already know what Johnny Boy over there is getting,” Pixis said, ignoring Jean's loud protests at the horrible pet-name, “but what can I get for you, Marco?”

 

Thankfully Marco seemed to relax a bit after that, instead choosing to focus on selecting a flavor, and Jean had to keep from chuckling at the look of pure concentration on the boy's freckled face. Apparently choosing an ice cream flavor was an art form. Although, what with the way Marco pouted those rosy lips of his, Jean was tempted to tell the boy to forget the ice cream and lick him instea-

 

A quick buzz from his front pocket grabbed Jean's attention before a loud voice started shouting from his phone.

 

“ _Hey dipshit, pick up your phone! Hey dipshit, pick up your phone! Hey dipshit, pick up yo-_ ”

 

Jean cursed as he angrily wrangled his phone from his pocket and answered it, turning away from Marco and flipping off Pixis who was howling with laughter in the process.

 

“You're a fucking deadman, Jaeger!” Jean hissed as he heard Eren chuckling on the other line.

 

“I take it you like you're new ringtone, right?”

 

“When the hell did you even have time to do that!?”

 

“I didn't, your sister did. I just gave her the recording and a dozen bags of skittles.”

 

“Of course my sister would sell me out for candy.” Jean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose in irritation. His sister had a sweet tooth that was probably only rivaled by Marco's.

 

“Dude, your sister would sell you out for a quarter.”

 

“I'm hanging up.”

 

“Wait, wait! I was just trying to find out how your 'hot date' went, no need to get your panties in a twist!” Eren replied, trying and obviously failing to stifle his laughter.

 

“Goodbye and fuck you.”

 

“Well fuck you too! You know I'm just going to call right bac- !”

 

Jean grumbled as he hung up and proceeded to set his phone to vibrate only.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Once Marco had settled on a chocolate and vanilla marble with caramel swirl, he found himself easily falling into a conversation with Dot Pixis.

 

“So tell me, how long have you known Johnny boy over there?” Pixis asked as he started preparing their order.

 

“Not that long really,” Marco chuckled softly as his hand went to play with the strands of hair at the back of his neck. “I mean, we go to the same high school, but we only just started hanging out recently, I guess.”

 

“I see,” Pixis replied with a smile. “Well, you're lucky you didn't meet him when he was younger. What a brat! Not that he's any less of a brat now, but at least now he doesn't throw a hissy fit if he thinks they're aren't enough marshmallows in his Rocky Road.”

 

At that, Marco couldn't help but join the older man in a fit of laughter. “Did he really do that?”

 

Pixis let out an exaggerated sigh. “All the fucking time! Plus, he always demanded that I give him an extra bowl so he could pick out all of the marshmallows with his fingers and eat them separately. And whenever I asked him why, he'd just give me this snotty little glare and say, “because that's how you eat ice cream, old man,” as though it were the most obvious thing in the world!”

 

Marco once again burst out in laughter as he tried to imagine Jean doing the same thing now as a seventeen-year-old. He could already picture the patronizing glare perfectly.

 

“Hey hey hey! What's going on here!”

 

And if he wasn't laughing hard enough before, the moment Jean walked up to them Marco started laughing even harder. All he could see in his head was Jean hunched over at a table with his ice cream cone, meticulously picking out marshmallows with the precision of a surgeon and only stopping to glare and growl at anyone walking by.

 

“What the hell did you do, old man!”

 

“I was just telling Marco here about your childhood eating habits,” Pixis answered with a smug smile.

 

“What!? You asshole! Why would you do that!” Jean shouted, clearly mortified, as Pixis just chuckled.

 

“That's what you get for not stopping by more often, ya brat!” Pixis replied as he held out their ice cream cones with a grin.

 

Jean started grumbling under his breath about dirty old men and how he never should have come here as he took their cones and paid, pointedly ignoring the look of victory on the old man's face.

 

“Enjoy!” Pixis called out as Jean started leading Marco to the farthest table he could find, leaving Marco just barely enough time to call out his thanks.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Once they sat down, Jean spent a good couple of minutes stewing in irritation. First there was Jaeger, acting like the shithead he was, and then he just had to leave Marco alone with old man Pixis. He should have known better! The geezer was always trying to find new ways to embarrass him.

 

“Hey, Jean?”

 

Marco's voice shook Jean from his thoughts. “Yeah?”

 

“Um...are you going to answer that?”

 

Jean couldn't help but smirk. “Answer what?”

 

“Seriously?” Marco asked while rolling his eyes before taking another lick from his ice cream. “Your phone has been buzzing in your pocket for like five solid minutes!”

 

“Don't worry, I assure you it's nothing important.” Jean chuckled and started in on his own ice cream. He could just imagine Jaeger's face right now, all scrunched up in anger and pouty. And not the cute kind of pouty. No, it would be the I'm-about-to-drop-a-shit-I'm-so-fucking-pissed-right-now pouty face that Jaeger seemed to have perfected so well. Jean loved being the cause of that face.

 

“Besides,” Jean said as he leaned in closer to Marco and pulled out the 'smolder', “I've got more interesting things to do right now.”

 

Jean let out a small shout of victory in his head when Marco gave a soft chuckle and a rosy blush once again began to settle on those freckled cheeks. Marco then immediately gave him a pointed look that clearly said 'oh really?'

 

“Of course! Now, I say it's time we play a game of sorts.”

 

Marco's interest piqued at the suggestion as he gave a look that Jean couldn't quite interpret. “A game?”

 

“Yes,” Jean replied with a grin and a wink, “a game. Every time you take a bite of your ice cream, you have to tell me something about yourself and vice versa.”

 

“Alright,” Marco chuckled. “Sounds fair.”

 

“Great!” Jean pumped his fist in the air before giving Marco what he hoped was a dangerously sexy grin. “I'll start.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

The game started out simple enough, each giving out the more common answers first, like their favorite color. Well, common for Jean at least, who's favorite color was red. Marco, on the other hand, had a more complicated answer, explaining how his favorite color depended on his mood, the time of day, what the weather was like, and various other factors. The look on Jean's face as he tried to follow along was priceless before Marco finally took pity on him and just said that right now it was purple.

 

From there they moved on to their favorite bands, movies and foods before Jean started sharing various shenanigans he and his friend Eren had gotten into. Marco had to admit, he knew that Jean and Eren were quite a rowdy pair, but damn! Some of the shit those two got into was unbelievable! From trying to ride their bikes off a roof when they were ten to nearly burning down Jean's house while playing with illegal fireworks when they were thirteen, Marco was honestly shocked those two had survived this long without being seriously maimed. He couldn't even imagine the stress Jean must have caused his parents as a toddler. He seemed like the type of kid a mother wouldn't have been able to leave unsupervised for even a second.

 

Of course, once Marco mentioned this, the conversation quickly switched to their families, with Marco describing his moms and Jean ranting about his conniving demon-spawn of a sister, complete with wild hand gestures and outrageously horrible imitations. All it really ended up doing was convincing Marco that he _really_ wanted to meet Jean's sister.

 

Overall, Marco was actually quite enjoying his time with Jean. It was like Jean had unconsciously lowered his guard for once, allowing Marco to get a glimpse of what he might really be like beyond the pretty face, athletic body, and douche-bag exterior. And it seemed that deep down, Jean was quite the dork. A very, _very_ attractive dork...with what appeared to be a very long and very dextrous tongue, if the way Jean slowly ran it across and around his ice cream was anything to go by. Fuck it, that boy knew _exactly_ what he was doing, didn't he?

 

Marco shook his head as he tried to reign in his thoughts. He was here for a reason, dammit, and his heart sunk when he reminded himself exactly what his situation was.

 

_This wasn't real._

 

None of it was real. All the flirting, the compliments, and the gifts...they were all a show put on in an effort to get inside his pants and win this little game that Jean and Eren had cooked up. And the more he thought about their date and how much he was actually enjoying himself, the more it hurt.

 

Some people might say that Marco should be happy that Jean was giving him his attention at all and just enjoy it while it lasted, no matter what the circumstances. After all, Jean was the boy that Marco had been crushing on from afar for years now. But instead, he just felt used.

 

The more he dwelled on it, the more the anger in his stomach began to simmer.

 

Marco wasn't some prize to be won and flaunted, only to be dropped once the hunt was over.

 

No. Marco was a wolf in sheep's clothing, and he had started this little game knowing exactly what he was getting himself into and that the chances of him getting even more hurt in the process were, frankly, quite high. But no matter what, he was determined to make this as difficult for Jean as possible. After all, that was his goal. To make Jean be the one to beg on his knees for a taste and want to keep coming back for more.

 

And maybe that made Marco just as bad as Jean, but he couldn't bring himself to care at the moment.

 

A loud snap next to Marco's ear threw him from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Jean staring at him, amused and expectant.

 

A new fire erupted in Marco's belly as he quickly formed a plan of action.

 

After all, the date was almost over and Marco had yet to pull out his trump card yet.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Marco finally jerked back to attention after Jean had snapped his fingers next to Marco's ear and apologized for getting lost in his own thoughts. To be honest though, Jean wasn't gonna complain. After all, the boy had looked adorable with his head in the clouds.

 

But now that Marco was back to earth, the freckled boy was indulging in his ice cream with an all new vigor. And needless to say, Jean was absolutely enthralled.

 

His eyes were glued to Marco's rosy pink tongue as it lapped, burrowed, and circled the marbled ice cream. Every time Jean thought he noticed a pattern to Marco's ministrations, the boy would switch directions and leave Jean's head swimming as Jean imagined the freckled boy giving the same attentive treatment to something else. He crossed his legs and tried to get his body back under control, but jesus, was this boy making it hard! Jean groaned softly as the tip of Marco's tongue sought out the rich veins of caramel and dug in, coaxing the thick syrup onto his tongue to mingle with the small stud tha-

 

_Wait._

 

_Hold on._

 

_Back up._

 

Stud?

 

 

* * *

 

 

Marco could tell the exact moment when Jean discovered the tongue ring. After all, the boy's face had gone from “me likey” to “SWEET MOTHER OF GOD IS THAT WHAT I THINK IT IS” in a matter of seconds.

 

Holding back the amused grin that was dying to come out was harder than usual as Marco struggled to continue on as though nothing had happened, all the while watching Jean gaping at him like a fish out of water.

 

_Huh, he looks kinda cute when he's shocked._

 

 

* * *

 

 

_Holy shit. Holy fuck. That is a tongue ring. Marco has a fucking tongue ring._

 

Now, Jean had had his fair share of various one night stands and hook-ups, but there was one thing that he had yet to come across: The fabled tongue ring blow job.

 

It was like an elusive unicorn that evaded Jean no matter how hard he searched. And then there was Reiner, who only made things worse. Ever since Reiner's long time boyfriend, Berthold, had gotten a tongue ring, not a day went by when Reiner didn't brag about his boyfriend's majestic studded tongue (to Berthold's complete and utter dismay). Hell, the big lunk had even written a song about it. On his ukulele. That he drunkenly sang at _every_ party. Horribly off-tune.

 

Needless to say, 'tongue ring' had been at the top of Jean's fantasy list for a long time now. And the moment Jean had seen the small lime-green stud pierced through Marco's tongue, a chorus of chubby little cherubs with two-toned hair rose up behind him singing Hallelujah and flying a giant banner that read “There is a God.”

 

“Jean?”

 

Jean shook his head from his thoughts to see Marco staring at him curiously.

 

“You...you have a tongue ring.”

 

Marco blushed and lightly scratched the tip of his nose as he cocked his head to the side.

 

“Yeah, I got it back in Sophomore year. Most people don't realize it though since it's just far back enough to be unnoticeable unless you know to look for it. I hope it's not a problem or anything.”

 

Problem? Problem!? Is he _insane_!?

 

“No!” Jean immediately replied, perhaps a bit too forcefully. “That is – no – no that is definitely not a problem.”

 

That is the _opposite_ of a problem. In fact, the only problem Jean had right now was that his jeans were quickly becoming much too tight, and he had every intention of fixing that problem as soon as possible.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Marco couldn't help but jump a little in surprise when Jean suddenly grabbed the ice cream cone from his hands.

 

“W-wait! I wasn't finished with that yet!”

 

Jean unceremoniously dumped both of their unfinished ice cream cones into the nearest trash can before grabbing hold of Marco's arm, dragging him in the direction of the car.

 

“Trust me, you won't care in about five minutes,” Jean said as continued to lead Marco with a feral look in his eyes.

 

Marco gulped as he struggled to keep up with Jean. He had pretty good idea where things were heading and he'd need all the strength he could muster in order to stick to his plan and not give in to those firey amber eyes.

 

 

* * *

 

 

By the time they had finally made it to the car, Jean was practically shaking with excitement. He could barely focus enough to get the car started without his mind immediately drifting back to all of the delicious things he wanted to do this freckled boy in his back seat, not to mention the shiver that ran down his spine every time he imagined the feel of that green stud tracing up and down his -

 

“Uh, Jean, where are we going? If you're taking me home, then my house is the other -”

 

Jean interrupted Marco with a laugh. “Oh no, baby boy, I'm not taking you home yet.”

 

“Then what are we-”

 

But before Marco could finish, Jean pulled off the side of the road and parked in the shadows.

 

Jean spared only a few seconds to quickly look around and make sure the area was deserted (Trost was well known for having pockets of more rural areas where buildings and people were more scarce, something Jean had taken advantage of countless times) before quickly unbuckling both of their seat belts and leaning over towards Marco.

 

“This,” Jean answered with a wicked grin as he reached down and yanked on the back release lever on the side of Marco's seat, sending both the seat and the boy flying backwards with a yelp.

 

Jean had never been one for much foreplay, preferring to dive right in to the main course. So the moment Marco's seat had fully reclined, Jean had pounced, pressing himself against Marco's hips and expecting the poor innocent boy to be too shocked to react, instead becoming putty in Jean's skilled hands.

 

And so, needless to say, when Jean dove forward to finally taste the metal stud on Marco's tongue, he was beyond surprised when his face smashed into a wall created by Marco's hands.

 

_What the fuck?!_

 

Jean pulled back, rubbing at his now sore nose, to see Marco lying there, looking like a deer in headlights and holding both of his hands over his mouth.

 

Jean just stared right back at the boy. “What are you doing?”

 

Marco shifted nervously underneath him and Jean cursed the wonderful friction.

 

“W-what are _you_ doing?” Marco finally responded, the red blush on his cheeks brighter than ever.

 

Is he for real?

 

“What do you think I'm doing?” Jean asked, beyond exasperated.

 

“I think- I think you're trying to kiss me?” Marco responded, sounding more like a question than an answer.

 

Jean stared in disbelief as Marco pointedly avoided his gaze.

 

Apparently this freckled beauty was going to need more coaxing than he had originally expected.

 

 

* * *

 

 

At this point, Marco was barely holding on to his resolve with a tiny, thread-bare string.

 

But there was no way Marco was going to let Jean win this one, no matter how much his own body protested to just give in.

 

By now, Jean had finally wiped most of the shock from his face and was clearly getting ready to start smooth talking Marco into compliance.

 

Jean leaned down a bit with a small smile and rested both of his hands on Marco's chest.

 

“Yes, Marco, I'm trying to kiss you,” Jean replied, his voice laced with slight amusement. “Is that really such a bad thing?”

 

“B-but it's only our first date!”

 

Jean gave a confused pout and shrugged his shoulders. “So?”

 

“Soooooo,” Marco whined as he tried to hide his blush and strengthen his resolve, “everyone knows you don't kiss until the third date!”

 

“What!?” Jean shook his head in disbelief. “That can't be a _real_ thing.”

 

“But it is!”

 

“Since when!?!” Jean threw up his arms in frustration, clearly upset at being lip-blocked and giving up on hiding his exasperation.

 

Marco gave Jean a light glare. “Since always. You didn't think I was going to hook-up with you after one date, did you?”

 

Jean looked like a kicked puppy as he whimpered slightly. “But-”

 

“No buts,” Marco replied as he crossed his arms over his chest. “It's third date or not at all.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jean sat there on Marco's stomach, watching the stubborn freckled boy with utter disbelief.

 

In all his years, this had never happened. No one had ever straight out said 'no' like this, and Jean was at a loss at what to do.

 

His first instinct was to pull the charm back out and hope for the best, but on the other hand, this wasn't one of his usual hit-it-once-and-done hook-ups. He had to make sure Marco stuck with him for an entire semester, and Jean was pretty sure that forcing Marco now would not be helpful in that endeavor.

 

So all in all, it looked as though Jean only really had one choice.

 

Jean forced a smile on his face as he slowly lifted himself off of Marco and got back in his own seat.

 

“Alright,” Jean said with a sigh. “We'll do this your way.”

 

 

* * *

 

 

Hiding an erection is hard enough. But hiding an erection in shorts that hug your hips like a glove is pure hell.

 

At least Marco could take comfort in the fact that Jean couldn't be fairing any better, what with those tight ass jeans of his.

 

On the drive back to Marco's home they tried to engage in small talk, and while it worked for the most part in thinning the layer of awkwardness that had settled around them, it was still pretty obvious that both of them were still dwelling on what had almost happened. No matter how hard he tried, Marco couldn't stop thinking about how wonderful it had felt having Jean's strong legs straddling his stomach. God, it was like they had fit so perfectly around him and-

 

_No, Marco, stop!_

 

Marco sighed as he watched the scenery go by and noticed they were about a block away from his house.

 

Well, Marco thought with a small grin, at least he could leave Jean with a small parting gift of sorts. You know, something to remember him by.

 

 

* * *

 

 

Jean let out a soft sigh as he pulled into Marco's driveway. He _had_ planned on giving Marco a hot good-night kiss before letting him go. You know, as something to remember him by until next time. But since that plan had been thrown out the door, Jean was struggling to come up with a suave way to end their date.

 

Marco, on the other hand, seemed to have no such worries.

 

“Well, thanks for taking me out today, Jean. I really had a fun time,” Marco said with a smile and small blush as he nervously played with his seat belt.

 

Jean, with his confidence once again renewed, leaned over with a matching grin.

 

“Sooooo,” Jean asked as he watched Marco's blush deepen just the tiniest bit. “That means there's definitely going to be a second date, right?”

 

Marco chuckled as he unbuckled his seat belt and opened the door. “Well, you'll have to ask me properly first,” Marco replied as he finally stood up from his seat and rested his forearms on the hood of the car, bending down a bit so he could still see inside the car.

 

“Oh right! Don't forget that giant ass unicorn of yours,” Jean said as he remembered the two prizes currently stuffed into his car.

 

Cause there was no way in hell he was taking BOTH of those home with him. Hell, he still needed to figure out how to get that goddamn pink bear into his house without Adele seeing.

 

“Just pop the trunk for me and I'll grab it.”

 

Jean nodded and did just that. But then he noticed that Marco still wasn't moving. Instead the boy just stared right at him.

 

“What?” Jean asked, cocking his head to the side in confusion.

 

Marco just smiled and pointed to something on Jean's face. “I think you've still got some ice cream on your cheek.”

 

Jean cursed loudly and started scrubbing furiously at his face.

 

“Fuck, why didn't you say something sooner! Did I get it!”

 

Marco chuckled as he tried to provide direction. “Nope...no, it's...other side...wait, hold on!”

 

Jean stopped scrubbing when Marco suddenly leaned back into the car and grabbed Jean's chin. The next thing he knew, Jean felt Marco's tongue, stud included, drag slowly across his cheek. Jean just sat there, as still as possible, fearing that the slightest movement would scare the boy away. But then Marco's tongue reached his lips, the stud brushing ever so slightly across his upper lip, and Jean couldn't help but shiver in delight.

 

But then, just as quickly as it had started, it was over.

 

The cool rush of air that followed Marco's retreating tongue forced Jean to open his eyes again. Fuck, when had he even closed them in the first place?!

 

“There you go! All gone,” Marco said cheerfully as he once again backed out of the car and headed to the trunk to pick up his unicorn.

By the time Marco had returned with his prize, Jean was still just sitting there frozen in his seat.

 

“I'll see you later, Jean. And thanks again for a wonderful date!” Marco gave him another bright smile and a quick wink before shutting the car door and walking up the front steps to his house.

 

The following moments were all a blur for Jean. He vaguely remembered a few lewd thoughts running through his head as he watched Marco walk away. And at some point he must have started his car and pulled out of the driveway, cause next thing he knew he was was on his way home.

 

He drove in silence for a few more minutes.

 

Just staring out the windshield.

 

Slightly dazed.

 

…

 

And then he burst.

 

“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!!!!”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! To be honest, I struggled with the pacing and humor for this one, so I hope it's not too disappointing. As always, all comments and critique are beyond appreciated!


End file.
